Tension As Attempted Coup Looms In Sierra Leone

There is currently an ongoing tension in Sierra Leone following an attempted Coup.

It was revealed there was a heavy gunshot in Cockrill Barracks on Sunday morning.

Sustained gunfire could still be heard in some neighbourhoods of Freetown as residents hunkered down in their homes around 1200 GMT on Sunday.

Sierra Leone’s interior minister David Taluva said that the retreating assailants had attacked a police barracks after running out of ammunition, and had seized more arms from police officers.

The streets of the capital were mostly empty near the barracks earlier on Sunday morning.

“We’ll clean this society. We know what we are up to. We are not after any ordinary civilians who should go about their normal business,” one of the masked men in military fatigues said before driving away.

A senior government official, who requested anonymity, said that assailants also attacked the central prison in Freetown and some inmates had escaped. The prison, designed to hold 324 inmates, contained over 2,000 in 2019, according to a U.S. State Department report.

It was not immediately clear how many had broken out of the facility, but videos shared on social media showed several people fleeing from the area of the prison, while gun shots could be heard in the background.