Several former top
Gambian security officials smuggled guns and foreign mercenaries into
the country last year as part of a plot to overthrow President Yahya
Jammeh, according to charges filed by Gambia’s Attorney General on
Thursday.

Seven former defence
and intelligence personnel, including former Chief of Defence Staff
Lang Tombong Tamba, have been charged with treason, along with three
businessmen. The charges are filed with Gambia’s High Court.

The accusations come
after a wave of arrests in the West African state, a sliver of land
along the river of the same name sandwiched between northern and
southern Senegal.