Guinea Bissau President Embalo Says A Coup Was Foiled On Friday

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said on Saturday that gunfire and clashes that had erupted in the capital of the West African nation on Friday were an attempted coup.

"I can assure you that the events of December 1, 2023, are yet another attempted coup and those responsible will suffer serious consequences," Embalo told journalists after arriving from Dubai where he was attending the COP28 climate summit.

Clashes between two army factions broke out in Bissau on Thursday night and continued on Friday after national guard soldiers freed an opposition minister who was detained in a corruption investigation.

Bissaud's army said in a statement on Friday that order had been restored by afternoon in the tiny West African country where coups and unrest have been commonplace since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

At least six people were killed during a failed attempt to overthrow Embalo in February 2022.

"On February 1, 2022, we witnessed the same scenario. We still need to put an end once and for all on these upheavals in Guinea-Bissau," Embalo said.

Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick ZieminskiReuters