The Gambia has accused Senegal of launching a unilateral border raid that destroyed military boundary markers and perimeter walls.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sering Modou Njie revealed that Senegalese armed forces carried out the destructive action on July 16.
The unprovoked strike near the border village of Bulock instantly shattered months of fragile diplomatic calm between the neighboring nations.
President Adama Barrow urged maximum restraint, ordering Gambian forces to hold their fire and prevent a wider military escalation.
Barrow swiftly dispatched Foreign Minister Njie to Dakar to urge Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to choose diplomacy over combat.
The escalating dispute also left local agricultural communities stranded after Senegalese officials barred Gambian farmers from accessing ancestral lands.
Diplomatic delegations and boundary commissions from both nations recently convened in Banjul to address the worsening border crisis peacefully.
Officials now hope to finalize agreements that will allow regional farmers to safely return to their vital crops immediately.