BISSAU (Reuters) – At least six folks have been killed in a failed try and overthrow Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, state radio mentioned on Wednesday, as residents of the capital cautiously returned to day by day life.

The useless in Tuesday’s incident included 4 assailants and two members of the presidential guard, it mentioned. Embalo had introduced on Tuesday night time that the state of affairs was beneath management after gunfire rang out for greater than 5 hours close to a authorities compound the place he was holding a cupboard assembly.

The West African nation, which has a inhabitants of about 2 million, has now seen 10 coups or tried coups since independence from Portugal in 1974. Only one democratically elected president has accomplished a full time period.

It stays unclear who was behind the assault, which Embalo mentioned was not solely a failed coup however an assassination try.

In a video, the president steered that not all items of the military was concerned however that the attackers could have been linked to the drug commerce.

Guinea-Bissau is named a serious transit level for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe, contributing to its perpetual instability.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) fee president Jean-Claude Kassi Brou mentioned military was accountable, including in a Twitter publish on Wednesday: “I welcome the failure of the navy coup try in Guinea-Bissau, which was an assault on democracy and the folks”.

The fundamental street linking the town centre to the airport remained closed on Wednesday morning because it goes previous the presidential palace, however banks and outlets had reopened and folks have been venturing out, a Reuters reporter mentioned.

(Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Nellie Peyton, Editing by Bate Felix and Angus MacSwan)