Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on Tuesday said an unsuccessful coup attempt has left many members of the security forces dead, reported Reuters.
“I am well, thank God,” President Embalo said on Tuesday on Twitter. “The government has the situation under control.”
He assured that the situation was under control, calling it a “failed attack against democracy”. He added that the attack was a well-organized one and could also be related to people involved in drug trafficking.
On Tuesday, gunfire erupted near a government building in the capital Bissau where the president was reportedly attending a cabinet meeting. The shooting interrupted the meeting and led to a stampede.
In his video, Mr. Embalo said that the army was not involved in Tuesday’s attack.
“I can assure you that no camp joined this attempted coup. It was isolated. It is linked to people we have fought against,” Guinea Bissau’s president said, without elaborating.
He said the security forces have already arrested a number of people in connection with the failed coup, but he did not know how many.
Mr. Embalo won the December 2019 presidential election, but, he faced a last-minute stand-off with parliament before taking office the following February.
The 15-nation West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS called Tuesday’s violence a “coup attempt” and said it was following the situation in Bissau “with great concern.”
“ECOWAS condemns this coup attempt and holds the military responsible for the bodily integrity of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and the members of his government,” the statement said in a tweet.
There have been several coup attempts in West and Central Africa recently. Over the past two years, there have been military takeovers in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Sudan.
Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coups and more than a dozen attempted coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974.
