There was a violent exchange of fire at the presidential palace in the West African country of Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday. They raise fears of the worst in a region where military coups are multiplying.
According to President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, the situation in the West African country of Guinea-Bissau is under control after a possible attempted coup. According to him, there was a five-hour exchange of fire on Tuesday evening.
“The situation is under control,” he confirmed on Wednesday night. However, the background to the possible coup attempt remained unclear for the time being.
The reports of violent exchanges of fire at the presidential palace fueled concerns about a putsch, not least among the regional community of states Ecowas. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed his “deeply concerned about the news of heavy fighting” and called for the country’s democratic institutions to be respected in addition to an immediate end. The soldiers would have to go back to their barracks, coups are “completely unacceptable”.
Military withdrawal requested
African Union (AU) President Moussa Faki Mahamat also said he was following the situation in Guinea-Bissau with concern. In a statement circulated on Twitter, he also called on the military to withdraw and ensure the physical integrity of the president and members of his government.
Guinea-Bissau is located on the Atlantic coast. The former Portuguese colony borders Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south. In the region, the military recently seized power in the crisis-hit countries of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Just earlier this week, the AU suspended Burkina Faso’s membership pending the restoration of constitutional order in the country of 21 million people. Mutinous soldiers overthrew the democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré on January 24 and took power.
Like Mali, Burkina Faso is in a serious political crisis, mainly because of the increasing Islamist terror in the Sahel. Because of a refusal by the Malian military junta to hold new elections soon, the Ecowas international community has imposed strict sanctions on the crisis-ridden state.
The Bundeswehr has its largest foreign mission in Mali. It is represented there with a good 1,350 soldiers as part of the EU training mission EUTM and the UN peacekeeping mission Minusma. The former French colony with its 20 million inhabitants has been troubled by Islamist terrorist groups for years. Protracted droughts and famines also plague the people there. dpa
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