Wednesday 26/November/2025 – 06:45 PM
Military personnel in Guinea-Bissau announced the closure of borders and airspace and a curfew, and imposed full control over the country until further notice, following their arrest of President Omar Sissoko Embalo from inside the presidential palace, according to what was reported by international media.
Agence France-Presse reported that sounds of gunfire were heard near the presidential palace, while men in military uniform deployed on the main road leading to it in the West African country, which has historically known a series of political unrest, including four coups d’état and several other attempts since it gained independence.
The army took complete control of all the country’s institutions
The army had previously announced that it had full control over all the country’s institutions, according to what the same agency reported.
This development came after gunfire in the vicinity of the palace, followed by the arrest of President Embalo by gunmen who accused him of attempting to carry out a coup in the capital, Bissau.
This comes three days after the presidential elections in which the main opposition was excluded, and eyewitnesses told the agency that they heard gunshots in the capital at about one o’clock in the afternoon local time, without the identities of those involved being clear.
Guinea Bissau, with a population of about 2.1 million people, is one of the West African countries that was subject to Portuguese control for centuries.
