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Guinea-Bissau coup attempt, attack on PM residence
Carlos Gomes Junior, Guinea Bissau's Prime Minister and president of the National Assembly, looks on during a rally at the Meteorological centre in Bissau in March 2012. Soldiers attacked the residence of the winner of the first round, Garlos Gomes Junior, whose whereabouts were unknown.
By AFP
Posted Friday, April 13 2012 at 10:45
Guinea-Bissau troops staged a coup attempt, attacking the prime minister's residence, arresting politicians and taking over the ruling party headquarters amid a media blackout.
Gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades were fired in the darkened streets of the capital of the putsch-prone former Portuguese colony, which is in the middle of a bitterly disputed two-round presidential election.
Soldiers attacked the residence of the winner of the first round, outgoing Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, whose whereabouts were unknown.
"It was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and we were forced to retreat," said a police officer who had guarded the building. He said Gomes had been there earlier but could not give his current location.
"There was a panic and a riposte from our colleagues. He (Gomes) attempted to get out amid the confusion. I don't know what happened after that because I too looked to get out of there," he added.
A military source told AFP: "We are actively seeking Carlos Gomes Junior. Regardless of where he is hiding, we will track him down before dawn."
The sound of gunshots could be heard for around an hour, centred around the prime minister's residence, before relative calm returned to the capital.
Several political figures were "arrested" in the capital and taken to the army headquarters of Amura, near the coast, a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"They are with us in the Amura fortress, the headquarters," he added, without revealing the identities of any of those seized.
The West African bloc ECOWAS swiftly condemned the coup attempt, Ivorian Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan announced in Abidjan.
"We have received some difficult information from Guinea-Bissau, and this information indicates to us that there is a coup underway," the minister told reporters after a meeting of the 15-nation regional group in Mali.
"ECOWAS formally and rigorously condemns such an attempted coup d'etat," he added.
On the ground, ambulance sirens were heard across Bissau, which was plunged into darkness as electricity was cut off, while civilians stayed off the streets.
Soldiers earlier took control of the ruling party headquarters, where at least 20 troops were deployed, and the national radio station, which stopped broadcasts as did state television.
Troops also formed a cordon around the presidential palace, and the fate of interim head of state Raimundo Pereira was not immediately known.
Guinea-Bissau coup attempt, attack on PM residence*- Africa*|nation.co.ke