Assailants armed with machine weapons and AK-47s attacked Guinea-Bissau’s authorities palace for hours Tuesday whereas the president and prime minister had been inside, however the coup try that in the end failed, the president introduced.
The foiled assault got here solely about two weeks after a army junta overthrew the democratically elected chief of Burkina Faso, underscoring fears {that a} latest spate of coups is inspiring others within the area.
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo addressed reporters late Tuesday, saying that the “assault on democracy” had come throughout a authorities assembly on the constructing.
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“Our republican protection and safety forces had been in a position to cease this evil,” Embalo mentioned, including that the gunfire went on for 5 hours.
It was not instantly clear who was behind the assault, although the president mentioned it “additionally has to do with our struggle towards narco-trafficking.” Guinea-Bissau grew to become referred to as a transit level for cocaine between Latin America and Europe within the 2000s as traffickers profited from corruption and weak regulation enforcement.
The 15-nation West African regional bloc referred to as ECOWAS, already grappling with three different coups in member states during the last 18 months, referred to as Tuesday’s violence a coup try and mentioned it was following the scenario in Bissau “with nice concern.” Portugal’s Overseas Ministry mentioned in a tweet that it strongly condemned the assault in its former colony.
Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has skilled 4 coup d’etats and greater than a dozen tried coups.
Embalo, a former military common, was declared the winner of the December 2019 runoff vote, although the outcomes had been contested by his opponent. Embalo then began forming a brand new authorities with assist from the army whereas a Supreme Courtroom election problem was nonetheless pending.
Tuesday’s coup try comes amid a wave of army takeovers in West Africa. Since August 2020, troopers have grabbed energy in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Regardless of worldwide stress for a return to constitutional rule, not one of the army rulers have but to prepare new elections.
UN Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres, chatting with reporters at UN headquarters in New York, condemned the “horrible multiplication of coups” within the area, which he referred to as “completely unacceptable.”
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