Guinea-Bissau's president says situation 'under control' following attempted coup

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Guinea-Bissau's president has said the situation in the country is under control after reports of an attempted coup that led to the deaths of at least six people, according to a radio report on Wednesday.

"The situation is under government control ... Long live the republic and may God watch over Guinea-Bissau," President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said on Twitter after five hours of clashes in front of the presidential palace on Tuesday, leaving two presidential guards and four attackers dead, said the report by public broadcaster Radio Televisao da Guine-Bissau.

Embalo had told reporters on Tuesday evening that many members of the security forces were killed during the attempted coup, without providing specific figures.

Earlier reports had said the president's whereabouts were unknown, though he later clarified that he was "fine" and at the presidential palace.

Embalo described the coup attempt as an attack against democracy, attributing it to "the work of isolated elements."

He added that some military personnel involved in the attack had been detained and that the situation was "under government control."

Separately, Turkiye welcomed the "restoration of security and stability" in the West African nation on Wednesday.

"We welcome the restoration of security and stability in Guinea Bissau, following the failed coup attempt on 1 February 2022," said a Foreign Ministry statement.

"Turkiye is against all attempts aiming to topple elected Governments by illegal means," it added, expressing solidarity with the "friendly and brotherly Republic of Guinea Bissau in this difficult and fragile period."

Heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in the capital Bissau earlier in the day, leading to reports of a coup attempt in a country with a history of military takeovers.

Media reports did not clarify whether the attackers were members of the security forces but said that Embalo and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam were holding a Cabinet meeting in the building at the time.

Several people were wounded and the attackers wore civilian clothes, while soldiers in military vehicles drove through the streets of the capital and others were deployed around government buildings, the local newspaper Ditadura reported.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a 15-nation West African regional bloc, called the violence a "coup attempt" and said it "holds the military responsible for the bodily integrity of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and the members of his government."

Three countries in West Africa -- Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso -- have witnessed military coups over the last 18 months.

- UN, African Union condemn coup attempt

Meanwhile, the African Union expressed concern over the attempted coup and called on the country's military to free detained government members.

"The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, follows with deep concern the situation in Guinea-Bissau, marked by an attempted coup against the country’s government," it said in a statement.

"He calls on the military to return to their barracks without delay and to ensure the physical safety of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and members of his government and to immediately release those of them who are in detention."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said he was deeply concerned with the situation in Guinea-Bissau.

He called for an immediate end to the fighting and for full respect of the country's democratic institutions, his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, said in a statement.

Tuesday's violence came days after Embalo reshuffled his Cabinet, a decision initially challenged by Nabiam’s party.

Relations between the president and the Nabiam-led government have reportedly been tense in recent months.

Guinea-Bissau has had nine coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal in 1974.

For more than four decades, no elected head of state had finished a five-year term until Jose Mario Vaz saw out his full tenure in June 2019.

In 2009, then-President Joao Bernardo Vieira was assassinated in what was said to be an apparent revenge attack by soldiers for the killing of the country’s then-army chief, who was at odds with Vieira.

* Merve Aydogan contributed to this story from Ankara