Sierra Leone has arrested most of the leaders of an armed attack in the capital that has prompted the government to declare a nationwide curfew, the country’s president has said.
“Most of the leaders have been arrested. Security operations and investigations are ongoing,” President Julius Maada Bio said on national television on Sunday following armed clashes in Freetown after what the government said was an attack on a military armoury.
The government said it repelled the attack and was in control of the situation. The incident occurred amid months of post-election unrest in the West African nation.
The “government is in firm control of the security situation in Freetown, the attackers are retreating”, information minister Chernor Bah told the AFP news agency.
Sierra Leone’s civil aviation authority also urged the airlines to reschedule flights.
An AFP journalist said calm was slowly returning to the capital by Sunday evening but checkpoints heavily guarded by security forces remained in place.
“We are trying to collate the number of arrests and casualties,” Bah said, adding that “those responsible for today’s attack will be hunted down to face the full force of the law”.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show men in uniform under arrest in the back or beside a military pick-up truck.
Earlier in the day, witnesses told AFP they heard gunshots and explosions in the city’s Wilberforce district, where the armoury and some embassies are located.
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