Military officers in Guinea-Bissau have declared that they have taken “total control” of the country, announcing the suspension of the ongoing electoral process and the immediate closure of national borders.
The dramatic declaration comes just three days after the West African nation held its legislative and presidential elections.
Tensions escalated earlier in the day when sustained gunfire erupted near the presidential palace in Bissau.
Witnesses reported that soldiers in uniform had seized control of the main access road leading to the heavily guarded complex—an unsettling development in a country long plagued by political instability and repeated coups.
The announcement was delivered at the army headquarters in the capital, where military personnel read an official statement asserting their takeover, according to AFP journalists present at the scene.
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