UN condemns coup in Guinea as president is detained in military custody

A military vehicle is seen near the presidential palace in the capital Conakry, Guinea (AP)

Mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea detained President Alpha Conde after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d’etat.

The country’s borders were closed and its constitution was declared invalid in the announcement read aloud on state television by army Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, who told Guineans: “The duty of a soldier is to save the country.”