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Sol­diers in Guinea-Bis­sau ap­peared on state tele­vi­sion 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.