Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, speaks firstly of the Transforming Education Summit on the United Nations headquarters, in September 2022. Bio declared a nationwide curfew after gunmen attacked the West African nation’s major army barracks within the capital.

Seth Wenig/AP file picture

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Seth Wenig/AP file picture

Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, speaks firstly of the Transforming Education Summit on the United Nations headquarters, in September 2022. Bio declared a nationwide curfew after gunmen attacked the West African nation’s major army barracks within the capital.

Seth Wenig/AP file picture

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leone’s president declared a nationwide curfew Sunday after gunmen attacked the army’s major and largest barracks within the West African nation’s capital after which overran detention facilities, together with a significant jail.

The assault raised fears of a breakdown of order amid a surge of coups in the region.

The detention facilities, together with the Pademba Road Prisons — holding greater than 2,000 inmates — have been attacked simply as safety forces fought to revive calm throughout sustained shootouts on the Wilberforce army barracks, in keeping with Information Minister Chernor Bah.

“The prisons were overrun (and) some prisoners were abducted by the assailants while many others were released,” Bah mentioned. Security forces managed to “push back” the assailants to the outskirts of the town the place combating continues, he added.

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio earlier declared a nationwide curfew in response to the assaults.

An Associated Press journalist within the capital mentioned that gunshots have been nonetheless heard within the metropolis hours after the federal government assured residents of calm, though it wasn’t clear who was behind the alternate of fireplace, nor if any arrests have been made.

“The security forces are making progress in the operation to defeat and apprehend those responsible for today’s attacks,” Bah mentioned. “The government remains in control and on top of the situation.”

The president and the nation’s Ministry of Information and Education additionally each mentioned that the federal government and safety forces are in command of the scenario, making an attempt to dismiss fears of a potential escalation of violence within the nation whose inhabitants of 8 million folks is among the many poorest on the earth, having among the lowest scores on the U.N. Human Development Index.

No particulars have been instantly given concerning the gunmen or the explanation for the assault, which comes months after Bio was reelected for a second time period in a disputed vote through which the principle opposition social gathering accused the electoral fee of rigging the outcomes.

Videos posted on-line confirmed troopers patrolling Freetown’s empty streets and captured the loud blasts of gunshots at daybreak. The AP could not instantly confirm the authenticity of the movies.

West Africa’s regional financial bloc ECOWAS — of which Sierra Leone is a member — described the incident as a plot “to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order” within the nation. The bloc has in latest months tried to reverse the surge in coups in West and Central Africa, which has recorded eight army takeovers since 2020, the newest in Niger and Gabon this yr.

“ECOWAS reiterates its zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government,” the bloc mentioned in an announcement.

Bio was reelected in Sierra Leone’s fifth presidential election because the finish of a brutal 11-year civil conflict — greater than 20 years in the past — which left tens of hundreds of individuals useless and destroyed the nation’s economic system.

He continues to face criticism due to debilitating financial situations. Nearly 60% of Sierra Leone’s inhabitants is dealing with poverty, with the youth unemployment fee being one of many highest in West Africa.

Two months after Bio received the disputed vote, police mentioned they arrested a number of folks, together with senior army officers planning to make use of protests “to undermine peace” within the nation.

A protest in opposition to the federal government in August final yr resulted within the deaths of greater than 30 folks, together with six cops.