A GROUP of some 50 armed separatist rebels on Wednesday attacked workers on a construction site in Casamance in Senegal, before fleeing with 12 hostages, military sources said. The attackers robbed workers of the Satom public works company while they were building a road link between the towns of Bignona and Dioulou, northwest of Casamance’s main city Zinguinchor. The rebels then took 12 workers hostage and fled toward Gambia in four of Satom’s vehicles. A Senegalese army reconnaissance aircraft was searching for the assailants, who, according to witnesses, claimed to belong to the Movement of Democratic Forces for Casamance (MFDC), which has been fighting for independence for Casamance for 20 years. – AFP