CONAKRY (AFP/AP) – Heavy fire erupted on Saturday in the center of the Guinean capital Conakry and security forces blocked off the area, witnesses told AFP.
The reason for the sustained weapons fire was unclear in this West African country, led since September 2021 by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya who took power in a coup after 11 years of civilian rule.
“There is gunfire from both automatic and weapons of war in Kaloum,” the political and administrative heart of the seaside city, a witness from the area said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The city center has been sealed since dawn, we can neither enter, nor leave,” a shopkeeper added, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I wanted to go to the port area where I work but was prevented from leaving (Kaloum), where armored vehicles have been deployed”.
Several witnesses said the roads were empty and armored vehicles stationed in several points.
Kaloum is located on a peninsula and houses the presidency and several top government and administrative offices as well as the military headquarters and the main prison.
Several witnesses said the firing took place near the jail and the 8 Novembre bridge -- the sole access route to the city center.
Gunmen stormed the main prison in Guinea’s capital early Saturday and freed former dictator Moussa “Dadis” Camara, the country’s justice minister said, announcing the closure of the West African nation’s borders.
The announcement by Justice Minister Charles Alphonse Wright came several hours after heavy gunfire erupted in the Kaloum district of the capital, Conakry.
Among the others who escaped were Claude Pivi and Blaise Goumou, Wright said.
“We will find them. And those responsible will be held accountable,” Wright told local Radio Fim FM.
An airport source said no flights had taken off from Conakry’s international airport on Saturday morning as air traffic staff could not get to the airport from Kaloum.
The coastal country in West Africa is among several countries to have seen coups since 2020, along with Mali, Burkina Faso and this year, Niger and Gabon.
In September 2021, and after 11 years of civilian rule, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the head of Guinea’s junta assumed power through a coup.
Kaloum is where the former head of the 2008 military junta, Moussa Dadis Camara, is behind bars along with other soldiers. Unconfirmed reports said that the shooting was linked to an armed attempt to break Camara and others out of prison.