Sierra Leone ends indefinite nationwide curfew following Sunday attacks
Hooded armed men in military fatigues stand on a street after unidentified gunmen attacked military barracks and attempted to break into an armoury at Congo Cross roundabout in Freetown, Sierra Leone November 26, 2023. REUTERS/Umaru Fofana
Sierra Leone has suspended an indefinite nationwide curfew imposed on Sunday following an attack on a military barrack and prisons in Freetown, the capital.
A statement by the government of the West African country said a new night curfew will begin from 21:00 to 06:00 local time every day “until further notice”.
While addressing the nation on Sunday, President Julius Maada Bio said calm has been restored adding that most of the leaders of the armed attackers had been arrested and will be held accountable.
Without making reference to an attempted coup, the president described the events as a “breach of security” and an attack on democracy while addressing the nation.
The Information Ministry reported attacks on prisons on Sunday that obliged the security forces to retreat. “The prisons were thus overrun” with some detainees released and others “abducted,” it said.
Sierra Leone has been going through a political crisis following elections in June this year.
In August, some military officers were arrested, accused of plotting a coup to remove president Bio.
The US, European Union, UK and regional Ecowas bloc have condemned the attack on prisons and military armoury in Sierra Leone.
Eight countries in West and Central Africa are under military rule following a series of coups, including in neighbouring Guinea.
