Guinea-Bissau's military has deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo after arresting him earlier and closing borders after discovering a plot to ‘destabilise’ the country.
Earlier, a group of military officers in Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday suspended the country’s electoral process and said it is under their control “until further notice”, French broadcaster RFI reported.
Military officers also announced they were taking "total control" of the country.
The officers, calling themselves the "High Military Command for the Restoration of Order", read a statement at the armed forces headquarters outlining their actions.
They cancelled the presidential and legislative election results and suspended media programmes while urging the nation to “remain calm”.
Heavy gunfire
Before the military takeover, heavy gunfire was heard outside Guinea-Bissau's presidential palace just three days after the country's presidential and legislative elections, with both major candidates having claimed victory.
As shots rang out, people and vehicles fled from the area.
Official provisional vote results are expected on Thursday in the tumultuous West African country, which has experienced four coups since independence, as well as multiple attempted coups.
Both the current president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and opposition candidate Fernando Dias have declared victory.
A passerby fleeing from the chaotic scene told AFP that "we're used to it in Bissau".
Elections
Embalo had been expected to win the election, which had passed off peacefully.
The vote had notably excluded the main opposition party, PAIGC, and its candidate, Domingos Simoes Pereira, from the ballot.
Pereira and PAIGC were struck from the final list of candidates and parties published in October by the Supreme Court, which said they had filed their official applications too late.
Pereira and Embalo are political arch-rivals; a four-month post-election crisis marked the last presidential election in 2019, as both men claimed victory.
The head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) observation mission, Issifu Baba Braimah Kamara, had praised the "peaceful conduct of the vote" on Tuesday.
Guinea-Bissau is among the world's poorest countries and is also a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trade facilitated by the country's long history of political instability.
