Sierra Leone declares curfew, says repelled barracks attack

Sierra Leone's government said on Sunday that unidentified gunmen attacked a military barracks and tried to break into an armory at the site in the capital, Freetown. 

"In the early hours of Sunday, some unidentified individuals attempted to break into the military armory at the Wilberforce barracks. They have been rebuffed," Information Minister Chernor Bah said in the statement. 

Sierra Leone's Information ministry said that major detention centers including the Pademba Road Prisons had been attacked earlier in the day and that the prisons had been overrun. 

Video posted on social networks suggested numerous prisoners had escaped from the central jail.

Nationwide curfew in place

The government said security forces were again in control of the situation but it nevertheless said it was issuing stay-at-home orders across the country. 

"A nationwide curfew has been declared with immediate effect ... We strongly advise citizens to stay indoors," the statement said. 

An AFP journalist reported that calm was slowly returning to the capital by Sunday evening, although heavily guarded checkpoints manned by security forces remained in place.

West African regional group ECOWAS condemned what it described as an attempt to "acquire arms and disturb constitutional order" in Sierra Leone. 

The country's civil aviation authority, meanwhile, urged airlines to reschedule flights due to the nationwide curfew.

The aviation authority said that passengers should be placed on the next available flight once the curfew was lifted.

Tense atmosphere since contested June elections

The government in the English-speaking West African country has been unsettled since the contested re-election of President Julius Maada Bio in June this year. 

The All People's Congress (APC) opposition did not accept defeat and international monitors had recommended the detailed publication of results to assuage doubts about the count. 

Anti-government protests in August resulted in the deaths of six police officers and at least 21 civilians. Maada Bio had referred to the protests as an attempt to overthrow the government. 

But in October, the main opposition APC and the government signed an accord after talks mediated by ECOWAS. It agreed to end its boycott and participate in government in exchange for an end to detentions and court cases it said were politically motivated. 

President says 'calm has been restored'

Maada Bio issued a statement on social media on Sunday about the attack, saying he was in the Presidential Lodge in Freetown. 

He issued few details but claimed that "calm has been restored." He said that a "combined team of our Security Forces continue to root out the remnant of the fleeing renegades," but offered no indication of who they might be. 

He said his government remained "resolute in our determination to protect democracy in Sierra Leone." 

A series of West African countries have undergone one or even several military coups in recent years, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea, which borders Sierra Leone. 

kb,msh/wmr (AFP, Reuters)