Videos shared on social media but not yet authenticated show Guinea’s President Conde being detained by army special forces after a gunfire rang out near the presidential palace early Sunday in capital Conakry.
A Guinean army colonel has seized control of state television airwaves and announced that President Alpha Conde’s government had been dissolved hours after heavy gunfire erupted near the presidential palace on Sunday.
Conde’s whereabouts were not immediately known, and Col. Mamadi Doumbouya made no mention of the 83-year-old president whose popularity has plummeted since he sought a third term last year.
“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Doumbouya said, adding that the constitution was also dissolved and land borders now closed.
Videos shared on social media showed President Conde being detained by army special forces on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, at least two people were injured after heavy gunfire broke out near the presidential palace in Guinea’s capital Conakry, while military vehicles patrolled the streets, witnesses said and videos shared on social media showed.
A senior government official said Conde was unharmed but gave no further details.
A military source said the gunfire involved angry members of the special forces, an elite army corps.
Another military source said the only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum neighbourhood, which houses most of the ministries and the presidential palace, had been sealed off and many soldiers, some heavily armed, were posted around the palace.
Three witnesses told Reuters they saw two civilians with gunshot wounds.
“I see groups of soldiers heading towards the presidency. There has been a lot of shooting,” said Ousmane Camara, a resident of Kaloum.
Source: TRT WORLD
