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Gambia’s capital rocked by gunfire amid reports of attempted coup Gambian soldiers attempt coup while president is abroad
(about 1 hour later)
Gunfire erupted around the presidential palace in Banjul, capital of the Gambia, overnight and soldiers blocked the bridge leading to the centre of the coastal city amid media reports of an attempted coup. A group of disaffected soldiers launched a foiled coup bid in the Gambia on Tuesday while the president was abroad, military and diplomatic sources said.
A diplomat said unknown gunmen had attacked State House during the night. Local diplomats and media said the Gambia’s president, Yahya Jammeh, was in France when the violence broke out. Forces loyal to President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the west African country for 20 years, killed three suspects including the alleged ringleader – an army deserter, a military officer said.
Banks and other offices in the capital and surrounding neighbourhoods remained closed and residents locked themselves indoors. State radio played traditional kora music and did not refer to the incident. The officer, speaking from Bissau, said the deserter – named as Lamin Sanneh – led a heavily-armed attack with six men on the presidential palace in the capital Banjul.
A French foreign ministry spokesman said Jammeh was not on an official visit in Paris and diplomatic sources said there was no indication that he was in France on a private visit either. The pre-dawn assault triggered panic in Bissau, while national radio went off air for several hours and state television was suspended.
There was no official confirmation of reports on Twitter and media of an attempted coup but a senior west African diplomat said mutineers were in control of some strategic pockets of the capital on Tuesday afternoon. Jammeh’s precise whereabouts remained unclear. Gambian officials said the president was on a private visit to Dubai and foreign diplomats said he was in France, but an official in Paris said there was no sign he was in the country.
Jammeh, 49, who came to power in a coup 20 years ago, has stifled dissent and faced increased criticism from abroad over his human rights record. Opposition politician Sheikh Sidya Bayo told a private Senegalese radio station that the unrest was “the start of a mutiny that changed” into a bid to topple Jammeh.
In recent years he has frequently reshuffled senior military and civilian officials, a policy that has prevented potential rivals accruing power but which has contributed to instability. Three of the suspected coup plotters were killed and another captured by Jammeh’s forces, but there was no confirmation of an overall death toll from the fighting.
“Police and the army are now entirely in control of the situation,” the military officer said.
A Gambian diplomat said the presidential palace in the heart of the small city on the Gambia river was attacked at about 3am by armed men, including members of the presidential guard.
“They wanted to overthrow the regime,” a military source told AFP, while a western diplomat said a coup attempt had apparently been foiled.
Army patrols urged people to return home and remain calm.
Jammeh, 49, the former head of military police, has ruled the largely rural country of 1.8 million people with a firm hand since 1994, when he came to power in a coup that toppled founding leader Sir Dawda Jawara.
Backed by his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Reconstruction (APRC) party, which enjoys a large majority in parliament, Jammeh has come under fire for human rights abuses, including the disappearance of his foes
Jammeh has denounced gay people, once threatening to behead them but instead overseeing the imposition of long jail terms.