Tensions rise in Guinea-Bissau after shots fired

There's heightened tension in the capital of Guinea-Bissau, on the west coast of Africa, after heavy gunfire, overnight, between branches of the security forces.

Members of the national guard freed a minister and a senior government official who'd been detained by police over corruption allegations in the city of Bissau. Guinea-Bissau's president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, is currently attending the UN's climate conference in Dubai.

The tensions last night stemmed from a failed coup attempt in Feburary 2022 and the country is no stranger to political instability - there have been nine attempted coups in the country since 1980.

Alberto Dabo, a journalist in Bissau, told Newshour's Paul Henley more about what had been going on in Bissau.

(File photo of members of the armed forces in Guinea-Bissau brandishing weapons on a parade on 16 November 2023. Credit: Samba Balde/AFP)