Surprisingly, last Sunday, French media broadcast a video clip showing the commander of the special forces, Mamadi Domboya, announcing his implementation of a coup against Guinean President Alpha Conde and his arrest.

In short, Domboya said, "The president is with us, and he is in a safe place," adding - in his speech - that the entire country's army is with him, and that he came from all over Guinea to participate in nation-building.

Domboya, who turned against his boss, drew all his military ideas and training through his career with the French army, and was a member of the French Foreign Legion, before he was called to Guinea to be handed over to President Alpha Conde in 2018, the newly formed elite forces.

Domboya, 41, graduated from the military school in the French capital, Paris, and fought with the French Foreign Legion for years.

He has about 15 years of experience with the French army, which has included sending him on exercises and missions to Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Paris also sent him while working in its forces to Israel, Senegal and Gabon to receive specialized training, as an expert in defense management, leadership and strategy.

This close relationship between Domboya and the French was reinforced by his marriage to a French woman, a member of the French National Gendarmerie, and the birth of her 3 children, according to several media reports.


revolutionary tendencies

The coup in Guinea is not surprising;

Domboya's revolutionary inclinations against the Conde regime began since he announced his desire to make the elite forces independent of the Ministry of Defense.

And the newspaper Jeune Afrique said last Sunday that in recent months Domboya's desire for his military unit to be independent from the Ministry of Defense had raised fears of a power struggle.

She added that last May, rumors spread about the possible arrest of Domboya in the Guinean capital, Conakry.

She also noted that problems had already erupted between Domboya and the government in Conakry when he was prevented from independence by the elite forces from the Ministry of Defense.

Guineans first got to know Domboya when he appeared at a military parade in Conakry in 2018, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country's independence.

Like President Conde, he is from the Malinke community, and hails from the eastern border region of Kankan near Côte d'Ivoire and Mali.

He was chosen to lead the elite forces primarily to combat terrorism and maritime piracy, as the Malinke ethnicity has a strong presence in neighboring Mali.

The Guinean special forces made a strong impression on the people, as they wore red hats and sunglasses, in addition to their uniforms.

And Radio France International indicated last Monday that the formation of the elite forces and making their headquarters at the entrance to the Calum region, where the Guinean presidential palace and administrative buildings are located;

It was a "double-edged sword", for Conde.

This is not the first time that Alpha Conde has faced a coup attempt;

In 2011, his house was the target of attack, but - this time - the force of the putschists was greater.