The Defense Ministry said the attack on the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Conakry has been repulsed.
Conakry:
Soldiers who rebelled in Guinea’s capital on Sunday said on state television that they had breached the West African country’s government and constitution and closed all land and air borders.
The Defense Ministry, however, said the attack on the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Conakry has been repulsed.
Fighting broke out near the palace on Sunday morning, with multiple sources saying that an elite National Army unit led by a former French general, Mammy Doumboya, was behind the unrest.
Videos shared on social media on Sunday afternoon, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed President Alpha Condé in a room surrounded by army special forces.
Conde, whose whereabouts were not immediately clear, won a third term in October after changing the constitution, despite violent opposition from the opposition, raising concerns of further political turmoil in a region that has seen coups in Mali and Chad. in recent months.
Doumbouya appeared on state television draped in Guinea’s national flag and surrounded by eight other armed soldiers, saying his supporters planned to form a transitional government and would give more details later.
“We have dissolved the government and institutions,” Doumbouya said. “We call our brothers in arms to join the people.”
As the Defense Ministry said that security forces loyal to Conde had repulsed the attack and were restoring order, people took to the streets during the afternoon to celebrate the apparent success of the uprising.
A Reuters eyewitness saw pickup trucks and military vehicles, along with motorcyclists and enthusiastic onlookers. “Guinea is free! Bravo,” shouted a woman from her balcony.
The Guinean government has drastically increased and multiplied taxes in recent weeks to replenish the state treasury. The price of fuel has increased by 20%, to the dismay of many Guineans.
Videos shared on social media earlier showed military vehicles patrolling the streets of Conakry, and a military source said the only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum neighbourhood, where the palace and most of the government ministries are located, had to be demolished. was closed.
Thanks to its bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamond wealth, Guinea has seen steady economic growth during Condé’s decade in power, but few of its citizens have seen gains.
Critics say the government has used restrictive criminal laws to discourage dissent, while ethnic divisions and endemic corruption have intensified political rivalry.
“When presidents everywhere announced that they wanted to rule differently by eliminating corruption, the embezzlement of public funds increased. The new emir was taunting us,” Conakry resident Alassane Diallo told Reuters.
“It’s all that made it easier for the military.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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