Following in the footsteps of Mali and Burkina Faso, the military junta in Guinea Bissau is trying on Tuesday to seize power by launching heavy fighting near the government palace. The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres and the Economic Community of West African States quickly called the putschists to order.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has condemned the “attempted coup” which is said to be underway. The institution to which the small country of 2 million inhabitants belongs asked the soldiers to “return to their barracks”.
“ECOWAS condemns this coup attempt and holds the military responsible for the physical integrity of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and members of his government,” the sub-regional organization said in a statement posted on social media. .
The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, is also deeply concerned by this new episode of military rebellion in a West African country. In a statement, Mr. Guterres called for the “immediate cessation” of the fighting and “full respect for the country’s democratic institutions”.
Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned by reports of intense fighting in Bissau”, the document says as violence is ongoing in the country and the military surrounds President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam, believed to be inside the government palace for an extraordinary council of ministers.
According to the journalists on the spot, heavily armed men showed up around the building located on the outskirts of the capital and surrounded it. These same men held people at a distance and aimed their weapons at the reluctant, while in the streets of the city, military vehicles still circulate.
.
