Guinea-Bissau soldiers seize power in coup

Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared on state television on Wednesday saying they have seized power in the country, following reports of gunshots near the presidential palace, three days after national elections. The president told French media he had been deposed and arrested.It was the latest of several coups in recent years in West Africa. “The High Military Command for the reestablishment of national and public order decides to immediately depose the president of the republic, to suspend, until new orders, all of the institutions of the republic of Guinea-Bissau,” spokesperson Dinis N’Tchama said in a statement. He said they acted in response to the “discovery of an ongoing plan” that he said aimed to destabilise the country by attempting to “manipulate electoral results.”