Failed attack in Guinea-Bissau shakes coup weary West Africa

On Tuesday, security forces in Guinea-Bissau thwarted an attack on the Government Palace while the president and cabinet were meeting inside. The failed coup reverses a recent trend of successful military takeovers in West Africa but still leaves the region shaken.

First Look

Assailants armed with machine guns and AK-47s attacked Guinea-Bissau’s government palace for hours Tuesday while the president and prime minister were inside, but the coup attempt ultimately failed, the president announced.

The foiled attack came only about two weeks after a military junta overthrew the democratically elected leader of Burkina Faso, underscoring fears that a recent spate of coups is inspiring others in the region.

President Umaro Sissoco Embalo addressed reporters late Tuesday, saying that the “attack on democracy” had come during a government meeting at the building.

“Our republican defense and security forces were able to stop this evil,” Mr. Embalo said, adding that the gunfire went on for five hours.

A government statement issued late on Wednesday said 11 people were killed in the attack, including seven members of the security forces who saved Mr. Embalo and his prime minister from death.

Giving new details on the events, it said that unidentified gunmen dressed in civilian clothes burst in on a council of ministers meeting on Tuesday, taking the participants by surprise.

“The aggressors’ mode of action clearly reveals that the purpose of the armed attack was the murder of all the authorities present in the council of ministers room,” the statement said.

“The robustness of the means and ammunition used demonstrates that this was rigorously planned, relying on funding from sectors with the financial capability to mobilize such an amount of material, logistics, and human resources.”

One of the attackers – a member of a military police unit – and three civilians were killed along with the seven security personnel, it said. The authorities were still searching for those behind the plot, it said.

Mr. Embalo has previously said he did not believe the army was involved in the coup attempt, saying instead that it “also has to do with our fight against narco-trafficking.” Guinea-Bissau became known as a transit point for cocaine between Latin America and Europe in the 2000s as traffickers profited from corruption and weak law enforcement.

The 15-nation West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS, already grappling with three other coups in member states over the past 18 months, called Tuesday’s violence a coup attempt and said it was following the situation in Bissau “with great concern.” Portugal’s Foreign Ministry said in a tweet that it strongly condemned the attack in its former colony.

Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coup d’etats and more than a dozen attempted coups.

Mr. Embalo, a former army general, was declared the winner of the December 2019 runoff vote, though the results were contested by his opponent. Mr. Embalo then started forming a new government with support from the military while a Supreme Court election challenge was still pending.

Only one president has successfully completed a full term of office in the nation of around 2 million people.

Tuesday’s coup attempt comes amid a wave of military takeovers in West Africa. Since August 2020, soldiers have grabbed power in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. Despite international pressure for a return to constitutional rule, none of the military rulers have yet to organize new elections.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking to reporters at the Unite Nations headquarters in New York, condemned the “terrible multiplication of coups” in the region, which he called “totally unacceptable.”

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. Material from Reuters was also used in this report.