Sun 05 September 2021:
Guinean President Alpha Conde was reportedly detained by the military on Sunday in what appears to be a coup attempt.
Conde was detained by army special troops, according to videos circulated on social media.
According to local daily Guinee7, Conde was apprehended by soldiers commanded by Commander Mamady Doumbouya, the chief of the special forces.
BREAKING NEWS: There’s a coup d’etat underway in Guinea 🇬🇳. The President has been placed under house arrest by the military.
*Developing story pic.twitter.com/Rmba8IlHtO
— Sarah-Leigh Elago (@GeniusLeigh) September 5, 2021
The troops also claimed that the government had been dissolved and that some government officials had been arrested.
Conde, 83, was re-elected for a third term in a tumultuous election in October 2020.
His arrest was announced within hours after heavy gunfire was heard in Guinea’s capital Conakry around the presidential palace on Sunday morning.
The situation remains fluid as Conde’s government said in an earlier statement that an attack on the presidential palace by special forces had been “repulsed.”
Local media attributed the morning gunfire to soldiers belonging to a special forces unit.
The report said soldiers were seen driving at high speeds through the capital near the presidential palace and urging residents to stay home.
According to local media, highly armed forces stationed outside the presidential palace have cut off the single bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum area, which houses most of the ministries and presidential palace.
Soldiers from Coyah, a city 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital, continued to block access to the broader Conakry area.
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