Two army factions clashed in the West African country’s capital late Thursday; at least two people were killed
Deadly violence erupted between two factions of the army in Guinea-Bissau late last week, in what the West African country’s president, Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo, has denounced as a coup attempt.
Gunfire broke out near the presidential palace in the capital, Bissau, on Thursday night when the special forces of the presidential guard clashed with members of the National Guard, who had reportedly freed two government officials who’d been detained as part of a corruption investigation.
The National Guard stormed a police station to release Finance Minister Souleiman Seidi, an opposition party member, and Treasury Secretary Antonio Monteiro, AFP news agency reported, citing army and intelligence sources.
The two officials had been detained earlier on Thursday at the behest of state prosecutors after they were taken in for questioning about an alleged withdrawal of $10 million from state accounts. The National Guard later relinquished Seidi and Monteiro and they were taken into custody again, according to the outlet.
At least two people were killed in the unrest that continued on Friday, according to the Guinea-Bissau army.
In a statement issued on Friday, the army accused the head of the National Guard, Victor Tchongo, of masterminding the incident. Tchongo was arrested earlier on Friday but has since been released, according to a police source quoted by Reuters.
Embalo returned to Bissau on Saturday after leaving for Dubai to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, and told reporters that an “attempted coup d’etat” had blocked him from returning.