Sierra Leone - November 2023

In what Sierra Leone’s Information Minister described as an attempted coup, on 26 November, gunmen in the country’s capital Freetown attacked military barracks and a prison before being overwhelmed by the security forces. On 28 November it was reported that 20 people had been killed in the fighting and that almost 2,000 inmates had escaped. The government blamed the attack on ‘renegade soldiers’ but did not identify the coup leaders. Political tensions in the country have been high since its disputed general election in June and in August a number of soldiers were arrested in connection with an alleged coup plot.       

Sources: Africa Confidential, Politico SL, Reuters, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Sierra Leone Telegraph, The Africa Report