Sierra Leone has been placed under a nationwide curfew after armed men broke into prisons, setting inmates free.
Detainees from a number of “major” facilities were released on Sunday morning, said the West African nation’s information minister.
Earlier on, the gunmen had attacked a military barracks in capital city, Freetown.
Residents reported hearing gunshots at the barracks, which are located close to the presidential residence.
After the attack, the Ministry of Information declared an immediate curfew. Residents across the country are “strongly” recommended to stay indoors and flights to and from the nation’s only international airport have been cancelled.
The “assailants” have been pushed back to the outskirts of Freetown, Information Minister Chernor Bah said at around 13:30 (local time and GMT).
He wrote on social media platform X: “Most of the city is calm and under control of the state security forces.
“Major detention centres including the Pademba Road Prisons were attacked earlier today and in the interest of protecting civilian lives (including of prisoners), the security forces were forced to make a tactical retreat.”
A military source has told the BBC that some of the gunmen, including the guard of former President Ernest Koroma, have been arrested.
In the morning, the BBC witnessed soldiers in Freetown carrying heavy weaponry in a seized police vehicle and saw others chanting that they planned to “clean Sierra Leone”.
