Gunmen target Guinea-Bissau radio station, week after failed coup
Residents of Bissau carrying the national flag during election campaigns | File photo
Gunmen fire shots at private radio station in Guinea-Bissau
Read full articleIncident comes a week after foiled coup
ECOWAS deploys force to support Bissau government
Barely a week after a failed coup, Guinea-Bissau has experienced another gun incident rekindling tensions in the West African country.
The BBC correspondent in the capital Bissau, reports that unknown gunmen fired shots at a private radio station, Capital Radio, damaging their transmitter and other crucial equipment.
According to the BBG, the station is an affiliate of the US international broadcaster, Voice of America (VOA), but it is not clear who carried out the attack or why.
The same radio station was previously targeted in July 2020. After hearing the gunshots, some civil servants were seen fleeing home, the BBC Africa LIVE page noted.
Last week's attack on the presidency happened when the President was hosting a cabinet meeting. There has been no connection as yet between the attempted coup and this incident.
In an address after calm was restored, President Umaru Sissoko Embalo, said the plotters (who are fringe elements) were likely linked to activities of drug lords and persons government was pursuing over corruption.
Eleven people were killed in the ensuing gun fight. Regional bloc, ECOWAS, is deploying a military force to help stabilize the country.
ECOWAS and the AU condemned the failed coup and urged the military to remain in the barracks and whiles undertaking their constitutionally mandated duties.
