Overview
- Soldiers on state television said the Military High Command had removed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and taken power.
- The announcement halted the electoral process, suspended state institutions, restricted media activity, and closed borders and airspace under a curfew.
- An Associated Press journalist observed checkpoints run by heavily armed, masked soldiers blocking roads to the presidential palace.
- Social media videos and witnesses reported heavy gunfire near the electoral commission and armed men entering the building.
- Both Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa had declared victory ahead of official tallies, and local reports said Embaló was detained by a faction of the armed forces.