Guinea-Bissau\u2019s military has seized control of the country, arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and shutting down all borders, three days after a fiercely disputed general election.<\/p>\n
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The development was announced on state television, where a group of senior army officers declared they had taken \u201ctotal control\u201d of the West African nation and suspended the electoral process until further notice.<\/p>\n
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A military source told AFP that President Embalo, who was widely expected to win Sunday\u2019s election, was detained and is being held at the general staff headquarters, where he is said to be \u201cwell treated.\u201d The country\u2019s chief of staff and the interior minister were also arrested.<\/p>\n
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Opposition figure Fernando Dias, who was barred from contesting the election by the Supreme Court, was similarly arrested, according to two additional AFP sources.<\/p>\n
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Earlier in the day, heavy gunfire erupted around the presidential palace, with soldiers blocking access roads and taking positions across strategic points in Bissau. The headquarters of the National Electoral Commission was also attacked by unidentified armed men, officials confirmed.<\/p>\n
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Addressing journalists while flanked by armed officers, General Denis N\u2019Canha\u2014head of the presidential military office\u2014said a command unit from all branches of the armed forces had assumed leadership of the country. He claimed the military uncovered a plot involving drug traffickers and attempts to smuggle weapons into Guinea-Bissau to \u201calter the constitutional order.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The military announced a nationwide curfew, the suspension of all media programming, and the closure of land, air and sea borders.<\/p>\n
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Both Embalo and Dias had declared themselves winners of the presidential race ahead of official provisional results expected later Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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Guinea-Bissau, one of the world\u2019s poorest countries, has a long history of coups and political instability. The nation has experienced four successful coups since independence and numerous attempted ones, including a four-month post-election standoff after the 2019 presidential vote.<\/p>\n
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Controversy surrounding Sunday\u2019s election was heightened after the Supreme Court disqualified the main opposition party PAIGC and its candidate, Domingos Simoes Pereira, from appearing on the ballot. The opposition has accused President Embalo of manipulating the process and insisted his mandate ended in February\u2014five years after his inauguration.<\/p>\n
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Guinea-Bissau is also known as a key transit point for cocaine trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a problem worsened by years of political turmoil and fractured security institutions.<\/p>\n
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More than 6,780 local and ECOWAS security personnel had been deployed for election security and post-election monitoring before the military takeover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"