February 04, (THEWILL) – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), will send stabilisation force to Guinea-Bissau, following a failed coup early this week, the 15-nation-regional bloc announced on Thursday, following an extraordinary session in Accra, Ghana.
Apart from the situation in Guinea Bissau, the meeting also assessed the situation in Burkina Faso, Guinea-Conakry and Mali.
According to the Ecowas communiqué, the mission to be deployed to Guinea-Bissau, composed of military and police, will be deployed from The Gambia, where a stationary force of the organisation has been located, since the elections that removed Yaya Jammeh from power in 2017.
It, however, did not give details on when the troops will be deployed.
ECOWAS deployed a similar mission to the country from 2012 to 2020 after a coup, to help deter the military from intervening in politics and protect political leaders.
Meanwhile, Guinea Bissau Public Prosecutor’s Office, has compiled a list of 20 people allegedly involved in the ‘failed coup attempt’ on Monday, VOA Radio reported Thursday quoting a source who asked not to be named.
Interior ministry senior officials, leaders of the country´s main opposition party PAIGC, and army personnel allegedly linked to former navy chief of staff José Américo Bubu Na Tchutu, are among the involved, VOA report added.
On Wednesday, Guinea-Bissau’s government said the attackers in the failed coup attempt intended to assassinate the President and were part of a well-funded and tightly planned plot.
It did not say who it believed was behind the coup attempt, although President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has previously suggested it may be linked to the international drugs trade.
The Government said 11 people were killed in the attack, including seven members of the security forces who saved Embalo and his Prime Minister from death.
Giving new details on the events, the Government said that unidentified gunmen dressed in civilian clothes burst in on a Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday, taking the participants by surprise.
“The aggressors’ mode of action clearly reveals that the purpose of the armed attack was the murder of all the authorities present in the council of ministers room.
“The robustness of the means and ammunition used, demonstrates that this was rigorously planned, relying on funding from sectors with the financial capability to mobilise such an amount of material, logistics and human resources”, an Official statement read.
“One of the attackers, a member of a military police unit and three civilians were killed along with the seven security personnel. The authorities were still searching for those behind the plot”, it added.
Embalo has previously said he did not believe the army was involved in the coup attempt.
The attack was the 10th coup or failed coup in Guinea-Bissau since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974, and the latest in series of such actions in West Africa in the past 18 months – including two in Mali, one in Guinea and one in Burkina Faso just last week.
The context appeared different in Guinea-Bissau, a nation of around 2 million people, where only one president has successfully completed a term of office.
It is known as a major transit point for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe, sharing a common language with Brazil and Portugal, key exit and entry points in global trafficking networks.
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