Guinea-Bissau’s deposed leader Umaro Sissoco Embaló has been evacuated to Dakar, Senegal, after being ousted in a military coup late Wednesday.
The Senegalese government, in a statement, promised to work with regional bodies to restore constitutional order.
According to the statement, a chartered flight was dispatched under the personal direction of Senegal’s President to facilitate Embaló’s safe departure, along with other political figures and international observers, as the crisis deepened in Bissau.
The evacuation comes hours after the military seized power, claiming control under a newly formed High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order, suspending the electoral process, closing borders and detaining senior political and military figures.
The coup d’etat unfolded on Wednesday, 26 November, just before the release of presidential election results.
Military officers, operating under a self-declared High Military Command, arrested Embaló and several political and security figures, shut borders, suspended the electoral process and claimed they were acting to restore national security.
The following day, General Horta N’Tam was sworn in as transitional leader for a one-year period, vowing to confront drug trafficking networks he accused of undermining Guinea-Bissau’s democracy.
