Thirteen youths were killed on Saturday by "armed elements" in the Casamance region of southern Senegal, an area which has faced armed conflict for more than three decades, a security source said.

"Armed elements attacked young people who were looking for wood in the Bayotte forest, in an area of the commune of Boutoupa. Thirteen were killed and two were able to escape," the source told AFP in Ziguinchor, the regional capital of Casamance, confirming information from the Senegalese Press Agency (APS)