Senegal has appointed General Cheikh Wade as head of the country’s armed forces.

General Wade replaced Air Force General Biram Diop who has retired from the army. 

The new army chief was also promoted to a four star general in a ceremony on Thursday chaired by the Defence minister 

Sidiki Kaba.

General Wade, 58, graduated from the Royal Academy of Meknes in Morocco in 1986 before his numerous military assignments in several parts of the world including Iraq, Kuwait, Liberia and The Gambia.

The General led the Ecomig military intervention in Gambia, Operation Restore Democracy in 2017, to force former president Yahya Jammeh out of office.