Soldiers who staged an uprising in Guinea’s capital on Sunday said in a short broadcast on state television that they have dissolved the constitution and the government in the West African state.
However, the defense ministry said an attack on the presidential palace by mutinous forces had been put down.
Heavy gunfire had broken out near the presidential palace in Conakry on Sunday morning, with several sources saying an elite national army unit led by a former French legionnaire, Mamady Doumbouya, was behind the unrest.
An unidentified soldier, draped in Guinea’s national flag and surrounded by eight other armed soldiers, said in the broadcast that they planned to form a transitional government and would give further details later.
The defense ministry said the attempted insurgency had been put down.
“The presidential guard, supported by the loyalist and republican defense and security forces, contained the threat and repelled the group of assailants,” it said in a statement.
“Security and combing operations are continuing to restore order and peace.”
Many soldiers, some heavily armed, were posted around the palace, the source added.