https://en.sputniknews.africa/20231201/guinea-bissau-army-says-holding-leader-of-rebel-members-of-security-forces-1063894058.html
Guinea-Bissau Army Says Holding Leader of Rebel Members of Security Forces
Guinea-Bissau Army Says Holding Leader of Rebel Members of Security Forces
Sputnik Africa
Gunfire was heard for part of the night and early on Friday in Bissau, in exchanges between members of the national guard and presidential guard special... 01.12.2023, Sputnik Africa
2023-12-01T14:03+0100
2023-12-01T14:03+0100
2023-12-01T14:03+0100
sub-saharan africa
umaro sissoco embalo
economic community of west african states (ecowas)
guinea-bissau
west africa
police
court
coup
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.africa/img/07e7/0c/01/1063894260_0:154:3092:1893_1920x0_80_0_0_8c06a10a7a610c727562eb6a7b198e82.jpg
Guinea-Bissau's army is holding the leader of the security forces unit involved in overnight clashes and is in control of the situation, an army chief of staff spokesman said on Friday. Tchongo, who is in the national guard, had surrendered, a military official said on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the matter.He also said Economy and Finance Minister Souleiman Seidi and Secretary of State for the Treasury Antonio Monteiro -- whom national guard members are suspected of extracting -- had been found safe.Police questioned them for several hours about a withdrawal of $10 million from state coffers, according to military and intelligence sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.Lawmakers had also questioned Seidi about the withdrawal during a National Assembly session on Monday. He claimed the withdrawal was legal and intended to support the national private sector.Access to the southern neighborhoods of the city were blocked off by security forces and residents said they had fled north.Heavy gunfire was heard by an AFP reporter near the barracks in the neighborhood.Special forces intervened after several unsuccessful attempts at mediation, with calm restored following an exchange of gunfire, the sources said.Members of the Guinea-Bissau Stabilization Support Force, deployed in the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), were seen patrolling the streets of Bissau on Friday morning, an AFP journalist saw.President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, elected in December 2019, is currently in Dubai attending the United Nations Climate Conference, COP28.Embalo appointed two generals in September, Tomas Djassi and Horta Inta, as head of presidential security and chief of staff respectively.The posts had not been filled for several decades.The reinforcement of presidential security comes at a time when coups or attempted coups are multiplying in West Africa, including in Gabon, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and, this week, Sierra Leone.
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20231201/heavy-gunfire-heard-in-guinea-bissaus-capital-reports-say-1063880277.html
guinea-bissau
west africa
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
2023
Agence France Presse (AFP)
Agence France Presse (AFP)
News
en_EN
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Agence France Presse (AFP)
umaro sissoco embalo, economic community of west african states (ecowas), guinea-bissau, west africa, police, court, coup
umaro sissoco embalo, economic community of west african states (ecowas), guinea-bissau, west africa, police, court, coup
Guinea-Bissau Army Says Holding Leader of Rebel Members of Security Forces
Agence France Presse (AFP)
Gunfire was heard for part of the night and early on Friday in Bissau, in exchanges between members of the national guard and presidential guard special forces, an AFP reporter heard. The firing came after national guard soldiers freed two members of the government, who had been questioned by police on Thursday.
Guinea-Bissau's army is holding the leader of the security forces unit involved in overnight clashes and is in control of the situation, an army chief of staff spokesman said on Friday.
"Colonel (Victor) Tchongo is in our hands. The situation is completely under control," military chief of staff spokesman Captain Jorgito Biague told AFP.
Tchongo, who is in the national guard, had surrendered, a military official said on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the matter.
He also said Economy and Finance Minister Souleiman Seidi and Secretary of State for the Treasury Antonio Monteiro -- whom national guard members are suspected of extracting -- had been found safe.
The two men had been summoned by the judiciary on Thursday and taken into custody.
Police questioned them for several hours about a withdrawal of $10 million from state coffers, according to military and intelligence sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Lawmakers had also questioned Seidi about the withdrawal during a National Assembly session on Monday. He claimed the withdrawal was legal and intended to support the national private sector.
Members of the national guard took Seidi and Monteiro to an unknown location on Thursday night before seeking refuge in the barracks in the southern Santa Luzia district, the sources said.
Access to the
southern neighborhoods of the city were blocked off by security forces and residents said they had fled north.
"My children and I were up all night because of the shooting. The children are afraid and are clinging to me every time the weapons go off," a teacher said by telephone, declining to be identified for safety reasons.
Heavy gunfire was heard by an AFP reporter near the barracks in the neighborhood.
Special forces intervened after several unsuccessful attempts at mediation, with calm restored following an exchange of gunfire, the sources said.
Members of the Guinea-Bissau Stabilization Support Force, deployed in the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), were seen patrolling the streets of Bissau on Friday morning, an AFP journalist saw.
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, elected in December 2019, is currently in Dubai attending the United Nations Climate Conference, COP28.
The small west African nation of Guinea-Bissau has been politically unstable since independence from Portugal in 1974, going through four coups and several attempted coups.
Embalo appointed two generals in September, Tomas Djassi and Horta Inta, as head of presidential security and chief of staff respectively.
The posts had not been filled for several decades.
The reinforcement of presidential security comes at a time when coups or attempted coups are multiplying in West Africa, including in Gabon, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and, this week, Sierra Leone.
