Gunfire Erupts in Capital of Guinea-Bissau 

Gunfire reportedly broke out Tuesday in the capital of Guinea-Bissau in a compound where the country’s president was holding a Cabinet meeting.

President Umaro Cissoko Embalo, a former army general, was reportedly holding the Cabinet meeting in the government palace when the shooting took place. 

Reuters reported an “unknown number” of people were injured and that two were killed. 

It was not clear who was shooting. 

Embalo was declared the winner of the 2020 elections, but the results have been contested by his opponent, Domingos Simoes Pereira.

Embalo started to form a new government with the support of the military even while a supreme court challenge to the election was still ongoing. 

A United Nations spokesman said the secretary-general is “deeply concerned with the news of heavy fighting in Bissau” and asked for “an immediate end to the fighting and for full respect of the country’s democratic institutions.”

The country of 1.5 million gained independence from Portugal in 1974 and has experienced four coups and more than 12 coup attempts since, The Associated Press reported. 

It is unclear if the shooting signals another coup attempt. 

Some information in this report comes from Reuters and The Associated Press.