2023-11-27 08:02:02
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Most of the leaders of the attacks on Sierra Leone’s main military barracks and prisons have been arrested and normality has returned to the country, the country’s president said Monday following reducing the curfew to the hours between dusk and dawn, instead of the previous 24 hours.
Sunday morning’s attacks took the population and security forces of the West African country by surprise and sparked fears of a possible coup in an unstable region.
However, “most of the leaders” of the attacks have been arrested and “calm has been restored,” the president, Julius Maada Bio, said in a message Sunday night.
Residents of the capital, Freetown, woke up to the sound of intense gunfire as gunmen tried to enter a major armory in the country’s largest military barracks, near the presidential villa.
They engaged in an intense firefight with security forces and attacked major detention centers — including the central prison, which holds more than 2,000 inmates — and released or kidnapped an unconfirmed number of people, according to authorities.
Videos spread on social media appeared to show dozens of inmates rushing out onto the street to escape around the same time security forces were engaged in a shootout with the assailants on the outskirts of the city.
The attacks aggravated political tension in central and western Africa, where coups have occurred, with eight military takeovers since 2020, such as Niger and Gabon this year. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which Sierra Leone is a part, described the attacks as a plan “to acquire weapons and disrupt peace and constitutional order” in the country.
The attacks were “an attempt to undermine the peace and stability that we have worked so hard to achieve,” said Bio, whose re-election in a disputed vote in June has sparked political tensions in the country, still scarred by the ended 11-year civil war. more than two decades ago.
“There are security operations and investigations underway (and) we will ensure that those responsible are held accountable through due process,” Bio said.
The curfew will remain in place from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. until further notice, according to Information Minister Chernor Bah.
“Although we urge citizens to resume their normal activities (…) we continue to ask everyone to remain calm but vigilant, and report any suspicious or unusual activity to the nearest police station,” Bah said.
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