Conakry, Sunday

Heavy gunfire has been reported in the heart of Guinean capital Conakry near the presidential palace though it was unclear who was responsible.

A senior government official said on Sunday that President Alpha Conde was unharmed but gave no further details.

A military source told Reuters the bridge connecting the rest of the city to the Kaloum neighbourhood, which houses most ministries and the presidential palace, had been sealed off and many soldiers were posted around the palace.

A military source said the gunfire involved angry members of the special forces, an elite army corps. 

The source did not say what caused the anger. Another military source said the only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum neighbourhood, which houses most of the ministries and the presidential palace, had been sealed off and many soldiers, some heavily armed, were posted around the palace. Three witnesses told Reuters they saw two civilians with gunshot wounds.

“I see groups of soldiers heading towards the presidency. There has been a lot of shooting,” said Ousmane Camara, a resident of Kaloum.

Military budget cuts

Footage shared on social media showed heavy gunfire ringing out over the city, and vehicles full of soldiers approaching the central bank, close to the palace.

Two convoys of armoured vehicles and pick-up trucks were seen heading towards Conakry Autonomous Port, also near the palace. The convoy was accompanied by a white vehicle that appeared to be an ambulance.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Dakar in neighbouring Senegal, said troops had been deployed in downtown Conakry and ordered residents over loudspeakers to remain indoors.

Haque said the area near the Hotel Kaloum was the scene of the shooting and President Conde was reportedly nearby.

“This comes a week after the national parliament voted an increase in budget for the presidency and parliamentarians, but a substantial decrease for those working in the security services like the police and the military.”

Disputed elections

Conde won a third presidential term in a violently disputed election last October.

He ran after pushing through a new constitution in March 2020 which allowed him to sidestep the country’s two-term limit, provoking mass protests.

Dozens of people were killed during demonstrations, often in clashes with security forces. Hundreds were also arrested.

Conde, 83, was then proclaimed president on November 7 last year – despite complaints of electoral fraud from his main challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo and other opposition figures.

A former opposition activist himself, Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president.  – Agencies