Data minister says 13 army officers arrested in relation to the weekend assault in capital Freetown.
A collection of assaults on military barracks and prisons in Sierra Leone over the weekend was a failed coup try, in keeping with police and authorities officers within the West African nation.
Data Minister Chernor Bah stated that 13 army officers and one civilian have been arrested following the incident.
“The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government,” Bah stated on Tuesday.
“The attempt failed, and plenty of the leaders are either in police custody or on the run. We will try to capture them and bring them to the full force of the laws of Sierra Leone.”
The inspector basic of police stated the tried coup “failed in the early hours of the 26th of November”.
William Fayia Sellu advised reporters that “a group of people” had tried to illegally “unseat” the federal government with pressure.
Police have revealed images of 32 males and two ladies it stated have been being sought in reference to the unrest. They embrace serving and retired troopers and police, in addition to some civilians.
Authorities authorities have stated a minimum of 20 folks have been killed within the assaults and about 2,200 folks additionally escaped from prisons that have been attacked.
In televised remarks on Sunday, the nation’s President Julius Maada Bio stated that “most of the leaders” of the assault had been arrested, and that the federal government would proceed to pursue the remaining.
These killed embrace 13 troopers, three assailants, a police officer, a civilian and somebody working in personal safety, in keeping with authorities. Eight folks have been additionally critically injured.
Tensions remain in Freetown, the place checkpoints have sprung up and faculties and banks stay closed, whereas a curfew is in place from nightfall till daybreak.
Frictions within the West African nation have been constructing since a contested election in June, with President Bio profitable reelection amid issues in regards to the transparency of the election from European Union observers and United States officers.
Samura Kamara, candidate of the opposition All Folks’s Congress (APC), rejected the outcomes and stated that the election had not been credible.
The nation has additionally struggled with the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and police opened hearth on a crowd of demonstrators protesting excessive meals costs final August.
