After an armed attack in the capital and a nationwide curfew, the government says it is in full control.

Sierra Leone has arrested most of the leaders of an armed attack in the capital that has prompted the government to declare an attack nationwide curfewsaid the country’s president.

“Most of the leaders were arrested. “Security operations and investigations are ongoing,” President Julius Maada Bio said on national television on Sunday following armed clashes in Freetown following what the government said was an attack on a military armory.

The government said it had repelled the attack and had the situation under control. The incident came amid months of post-election unrest in the West African country.

The “government has the security situation in Freetown firmly under control, the attackers are retreating,” Information Minister Chernor Bah told the AFP news agency.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sierra Leone also asked airlines to postpone their flights.

An AFP journalist said calm slowly returned to the capital on Sunday evening, but checkpoints heavily guarded by security forces remained in place.

“We are trying to record the number of arrests and casualties,” Bah said, adding that “those responsible for today’s attack will be hunted down to face the full force of the law.”

Videos posted on social media appeared to show arrested men in uniform in the back seat or next to a military pickup truck.

Earlier in the day, witnesses told AFP they heard gunshots and explosions in the Wilberforce district, where the armory and some embassies are located.

Other witnesses reported gunfire near a barracks in the Murray Town district, home of the Navy, and outside another military compound in Freetown.

The Ministry of Information reported attacks on prisons the day before, forcing security forces to retreat. “The prisons were thus overrun,” some prisoners were released and others were “kidnapped,” it said.

Videos posted on social media indicated that many prisoners had escaped from the central prison.

In a statement released on Sunday, West Africa’s regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), condemned the attempt to disrupt the “constitutional order” in Sierra Leone.

Growing unrest since the president’s re-election

Political violence and unrest have occurred in Sierra Leone since President Bio’s re-election in June.

This election was the fifth since the end of Sierra Leone’s brutal 11-year civil war more than two decades ago, which left tens of thousands dead and devastated the country’s economy.

International observers condemned the “lack of transparency” in the counting of ballots, and Sierra Leone’s opposition party initially disputed the results and boycotted the government.

Since his election victory five months ago, Bio has continued to be criticized for the weakening economic situation. Almost 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s more than seven million residents are impoverished and youth unemployment is among the highest in West Africa.

The unrest in Sierra Leone follows a series of military coups that have dealt serious blows to democracy in the region. There have been eight military coups in West and Central Africa since 2020, including in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea.