The exact death toll from the attack and the identity and motives of the assailants remain unclear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Embalo said the attack was linked to decisions he had taken “to fight drug trafficking and corruption”.<\/p>\n

Guinea-Bissau suffers from endemic corruption, and is known as a hub for cocaine trafficking between Latin America and Europe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Wave of coups –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which Guinea-Bissau is a member, on Tuesday condemned what they termed an “attempted coup.”<\/p>\n

They were joined on Wednesday by France, which lashed “the coup attempt” in Bissau and voiced “respect for the constitutional order and… support for the democratic institutions.”<\/p>\n

The events sparked fear that the country would join the ranks of other West African governments that have fallen to military coups recently.<\/p>\n

In Mali, the army seized power in 2020. Guinea’s military followed suit in September last year, ousting elected president Alpha Conde.<\/p>\n

Then on January 24, Burkina Faso’s army also announced it had deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and taken control of the country.<\/p>\n

srt-ad\/eml\/ri<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guinea-Bissau’s capital appeared calm on Wednesday a day after President Umaro Sissoco Embalo survived a gun attack, as France joined condemnation for what has been called an attempted coup in one of Africa’s most unstable countries.   Heavily armed men on Tuesday afternoon surrounded government buildings in the capital Bissau where Embalo and his prime minister were believed to be attending a cabinet meeting. Embalo, 49, later told reporters that he had been unharmed during a five-hour gun battle, which he described as a plot to wipe out the government. AFP journalists reported hearing sustained gunfire, and the president said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","category-yeswecantv-news"],"yoast_head":"\n