A group of army officers said they had seized power in coup-prone Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday, a day before the planned announcement of results from a hotly contested presidential election.
In a statement read on state television by spokesperson Diniz N’Tchama, the army officers said they had deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, suspended the electoral process, shut borders and would enforce a curfew.
Shortly after, Embalo told France 24 TV: “I have been deposed.”
The army officers said in their statement that they had formed “The High Military Command for the Restoration of Order” and would be in charge of the West African nation until further notice.
The officers did not specify if they had taken Embalo into custody, and his whereabouts was unknown.
It was the latest outbreak of unrest in Guinea-Bissau, a small coastal nation situated between Senegal and Guinea that is a notorious hub for cocaine bound for Europe.
It was not immediately clear whether the army had the support of all of Guinea-Bissau’s fractious armed forces or whether they were in control of all of the country of around 2 million people.
The army statement said the officers’ decision to take power came in response to a destabilisation plan concocted by “certain national politicians” and “well-known national and foreign drug barons”, as well as an attempt to manipulate the election results.
Gunfire In Guinea-Bissau Before Announcement
Shortly before the officers’ announcement, gunfire rang out near the electoral commission headquarters, presidential palace and interior ministry, witnesses said. It lasted for about an hour but appeared to have stopped by 1400 GMT, a Reuters journalist said.
“People are running everywhere,” said a driver in Bissau who asked not to be named, describing scenes of panic.
There was no word yet of any casualties.
The electoral commission had been due on Thursday to announce provisional results from Sunday’s election in which Embalo faced off against Dias.
Both sides had claimed victory in the first round of voting.
Embalo was seeking to become the first president in three decades to win a second consecutive term in Guinea-Bissau.
A spokesperson for Embalo, Antonio Yaya Seidy, told Reuters that unidentified gunmen attacked the election commission to prevent an announcement of the vote results.
