Bissau Crisis: Chaos, Coups & Control 💥🗳️

World News

Guinea-Bissau military officers declared taking “total control” of the country on Wednesday, just three days after the nation held presidential and legislative elections in which both major candidates, Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Fernando Dias, claimed victory. Hours before the announcement, gunfire was heard outside the presidential palace, according to an AFP journalist. Military personnel made the announcement by reading a statement at army headquarters in the capital, Bissau, AFP journalists observed on the scene. The officers simultaneously suspended the country’s electoral process and closed its borders. Earlier in the day, gunfire was heard near the coup-prone country’s presidential palace as men in military uniform took over the main road leading to the building, causing people and vehicles to flee the area. Guinea-Bissau, a poverty-stricken nation in West Africa, has experienced four coups since independence and multiple attempted coups. Official provisional vote results are expected Thursday.

West African nation’s legislative and presidential elections, in which both major candidates claimed victory, were thrown into turmoil following a military coup. On Wednesday, November 26, 2025, military personnel announced they were taking “total control” of the country, suspending the electoral process and closing its borders from army headquarters in the capital, Bissau, where AFP journalists observed the announcement. Hours before, gunfire had been heard near the coup-prone country’s presidential palace as men in military uniform seized control of the main road leading to the building, prompting residents and vehicles to flee the area. The troubled West African nation, which has experienced four coups and numerous attempted coups since independence, is expected to release official provisional vote results on Thursday.

African country, which has experienced four coups since its independence, found itself in turmoil on November 26, 2025, when gunfire erupted near the Presidential Palace in Bissau. Military officers announced Wednesday that they were assuming “total control” of the nation, simultaneously suspending the electoral process and closing its borders, three days following the country’s legislative and presidential elections. AFP journalists present at army headquarters in Bissau witnessed military personnel deliver the announcement. Prior to the official statement, gunfire was heard in the vicinity of the coup-prone presidential palace, prompting residents and vehicles to flee the area. Despite the volatile situation, official provisional vote results were expected Thursday in the impoverished West African nation, which has a history of political instability and four coups since gaining independence. Adding to the complexity, both the current president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and opposition candidate Fernando Dias, have declared victory. Notably, Embalo and Dias are political rivals, and the 2019 presidential election was marred by a four-month post-election crisis due to competing claims of victory. Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, is also a significant hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trade exacerbated by the nation’s enduring political instability.