A group of military officers has claimed to have seized control of Guinea-Bissau amid reports of the arrest of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, the BBC reports, writes UNN.
Details
Shortly after shots were heard in the capital, Bissau, government sources told the publication that Embaló had been detained.
Officers then appeared on state television, stating that they had suspended the electoral process while the West African country awaited the results of Sunday's presidential election.
They stated that they were acting to prevent a conspiracy by unnamed politicians, who have the "support of a well-known drug lord," to destabilize the country, and announced the closure of borders and the imposition of a night curfew.
Located between Senegal and Guinea, this coup-prone country is known as a notorious drug trafficking hub, where the military has played a significant role since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974.
Election results were expected on Thursday – and both Embaló and his closest rival, Fernando Dias, claimed victory.
Dias was supported by former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, who was barred from participating in the elections.
Late Wednesday evening, Embaló told France 24 by phone: "I have been overthrown."
According to government sources, Dias, Pereira, and Interior Minister Botche Candé were also detained.
The putschists also arrested army commander General Biaguê Na N'Tan and his deputy General Mamadu Touré, sources said.
Eyewitnesses in Bissau heard gunshots around 13:00 GMT (15:00 Kyiv time), but it is not yet clear who fired the shots or if there were any casualties.
According to the AFP news agency, hundreds of people on foot and in cars scattered when the shots were fired.
Later, General Denis N'Kanya, head of the military office at the presidential palace, read a statement about the seizure of power.
He said that the officers had formed a "Supreme Military Command for the Restoration of Order" and called on the population to "remain calm."
Checkpoints were set up throughout Bissau, and the streets were deserted before the curfew, which was to begin at 19:00 GMT (21:00 Kyiv time).
Portugal called for the restoration of constitutional order, and the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged all parties to refrain from any acts of institutional or civil violence.
Addition
Over the past five decades, the former Portuguese colony has experienced at least nine coups or coup attempts.
President Embaló was elected in December 2019. Embaló stated that he had survived several coup attempts during his rule. However, his critics argue that he fabricated crises to suppress dissent. The 53-year-old president wanted to go down in history as the only president of the country to win a second consecutive term in the last 30 years.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world with a population of over two million people. Its coast is home to many uninhabited islands, making it an ideal location for drug traffickers. The UN calls it a "narco-state" because it has become a key transit point for cocaine coming from Latin America to Europe, the publication writes.