Guinea-Bissau’s president, Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló, said the situation is now under control after gunmen launched an assault on a government palace in the capital. The West African bloc ECOWAS has condemned the attack, along with the UN.
An unknown number of security forces were killed during the hours-long attack in Guinea-Bissau’s capital
Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said stability was restored on Tuesday, after a suspected coup attempt in the country’s capital, Bissau.
The remarks came after heavy gunfire was heard for several hours in the capital. The attack also comes on the heels of a spate of coups in the region in Burkina Faso, Mali and other African nations.
What did the president say?
Embalo told the media that officials were taking part in a meeting at a government palace, when assailants with AK-47 rifles launched an attack on the building.
The president said the situation is now “under control” after an “attack on democracy.” He said “many” members of the security forces were killed in the nearly five hour assault.
“Our republican defense and security forces were able to stop this evil,” Embalo said.
He said the attack “has to also do with our fight against narco trafficking” though it’s unclear who is exactly behind the assault.
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo speaks to the media in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau after a reported coup attempt
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo spoke with reporters, saying the coup attempt had been thwarted — but it was unclear what group was behind the attempt
Regional groups swiftly condemned the violence, giving credence to fears that an armed group had attempted to take over the West African nation once more.
People were seen fleeing the area on the edge of Bissau, near the airport. Local markets were closed and banks shut their doors, while military vehicles laden with troops drove through the streets.
Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coup d’etats and more than a dozen attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.
The country’s state broadcaster reported earlier that the shooting had damaged the building and that “invaders” were holding officials hostage.
President Embalo has been at the center of controversy since he was declared the winner of the December 2019 runoff vote. The results were contested by his opponent, Domingos Simoes Pereira.
Embalo started forming a new government with support from the military while a Supreme Court election challenge was still pending.
Guinea-Bissau has long suffered from official corruption, as well as the violence that comes with drug trafficking. Because of graft and lax law enforcement, the country is used as a transit point for cocaine on the way to Europe from South America.
