Overview
- Army officers announced on state television that they had deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, formed a High Military Command and assumed control, with Embaló later saying by phone, “I have been deposed.”
- The military suspended the electoral process, closed borders, imposed a curfew and halted media programming, later reopening borders and lifting the curfew while maintaining other restrictions and bans on demonstrations.
- General Horta N'Tam, the army chief of staff, was named the country's leader for a one-year transition and sworn in to head the High Command.
- Heavy gunfire was reported near the presidential palace, the electoral commission and the interior ministry before the announcement, as soldiers set up checkpoints in Bissau and patrols continued into Thursday.
- Reports said several senior figures were detained, including Embaló, Interior Minister Botché Candé and Domingos Simões Pereira, while opposition candidate Fernando Dias claimed by phone he won the vote and alleged the power grab was orchestrated to block his victory.