WASHINGTON--The United States on Tuesday condemned an apparent coup attempt in the small West African country of Gambia and urged its own citizens to stay away from the capital until the situation calms.
"We strongly condemn any attempt to seize power through extraconstitutional means and we call for calm and for all parties to refrain from further violence," State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke said.
Rathke said the US embassy in Banjul remains open under Charge d'Affaires George Staples.
"All US embassy officials are safe and accounted for and so our embassy, of course, will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds," he said, "strongly advising" US citizens to avoid Banjul.
Earlier a group of disaffected soldiers had launched a failed coup while the President Yahya Jammeh was in Dubai, military and diplomatic sources said.
A military officer said forces loyal to the authoritarian leader, who has ruled Gambia for 20 years, killed three suspects including the alleged ringleader, who was an army deserter.
The officer, speaking to AFP from Bissau, said the deserter named as Lamin Sanneh led a heavily armed pre-dawn assault on the presidential palace with another six men.
AFP
