The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has strongly condemned the recent acts of violence and attempts to disrupt the constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau.
The situation appeared to have calmed down by Saturday morning after clashes erupted on Thursday night and Friday.
The clashes occurred between elements of the National Guard holed up in a barracks in the southern part of the city and the special forces of the Presidential Guard, resulting in at least two confirmed fatalities, according to the French news agency AFP.
An anonymous military official, due to the sensitivity of the situation on Saturday, reported that six injured soldiers had been evacuated to neighboring Senegal.
Calm was restored on Friday with the surrender or capture of Colonel Victor Chongo, the National Guard’s commander, according to a correspondent from the French agency.
ECOWAS, in a statement issued on Saturday, strongly denounced “acts of violence and all attempts to disrupt the constitutional order and the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau.” They called for “the apprehension and prosecution of those responsible for these events.”
ECOWAS expressed “full solidarity with the people and constitutional authorities of Guinea-Bissau.”
The United Nations also called on Friday for the respect of the rule of law and urged security forces and the army to “continue to refrain from any interference in national politics.”
On Thursday evening, elements of the National Guard attempted to release the Minister of Economy and Finance, Suleiman Sidi, and the Minister of State for General Treasury, Antonio Montero, who were detained at the Judicial Police headquarters in Bissau, according to military and intelligence sources.
The Judicial Police had detained the ministers after they were summoned by the prosecutor’s office on Thursday morning and subjected to hours of questioning regarding the withdrawal of ten million dollars from state coffers.
The ministers were questioned based on orders from the prosecutor appointed by the president.
These events occurred in the absence of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was elected for a five-year term in December 2019 and is currently participating in the Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai.
Guinea-Bissau has long suffered chronic instability since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, witnessing numerous coups and coup attempts, the latest of which occurred in February 2022.
