An attempted coup is currently underway in Guinea, West Africa.
The president is said to have been captured and the government "dissolved".
Conakry - There have been ongoing exchanges of fire at several locations in Conakry, capital of the West African country of Guinea.
The AFP news agency reported that there were firefights, especially near the presidential palace in the Kaloum district.
"I saw a column of military vehicles with soldiers shooting into the air and shouting military slogans," a Conakry resident told AFP.
"The soldiers were all hooded." The military patrolled the streets of Conakry - while an attempted coup is said to be in full swing.
Coup attempt in Guinea: "We have decided to overthrow the government and close the borders"
The attempted coup should come directly from the military. Army special forces captured President Alpha Condé on Sunday and "dissolved" the government, according to a video of the coup plotters available to the AFP news agency. However, the situation was unclear: the Ministry of Defense stated that "the insurgents" had spread fear and terror in Conakry and attacked the presidential palace. An attack on the presidential seat was repulsed by the special unit. The fact that special forces from the Army captured Condé was confirmed by a source from the
Deutsche Welle
presidential palace
.
The putschists' video said that after the president was captured, it had been decided to repeal the constitution and dissolve the institutions.
"We also decided to overthrow the government and close the borders," said a uniformed and armed coup activist in the video, which was widely shared on social media but not made public on state television.
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An excerpt from a video available to the AFP news agency.
Guinea's President Alpha Condé.
He is said to be in the power of putschists.
© - / MILITARY SOURCE / AFP
Guinea: President pushed through controversial constitutional amendment - mass protests ensued
The video also shows the president, who was controlled by the coup plotters. Condé - sitting on a sofa in jeans and a shirt - refused to answer the putschists' question as to whether he had been mistreated. According to information from a Western diplomat, the elite unit has taken over the presidential palace, at least temporarily. The diplomat, who wanted to remain anonymous to AFP, suspected tensions between the government and the commander of the special unit as the cause. UN General Secretary António Guterres condemned "any takeover of government by armed force". He called for the president to be released immediately.
President Condé had passed a constitutional amendment last year that allowed him a third term. In October, according to official information, the now 83-year-old emerged victorious from the violent, controversial election, which in turn led to mass protests. Dozens of people died in clashes with the security forces. Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economic crisis in the country was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic *.
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