ECOWAS deploys a stabilization force in Guinea-Bissau

The sub-regional institution decided at its extraordinary summit on March 25 in Accra to approve the dispatch of a support force for the stabilization of the country in Guinea-Bissau (illustration image).

© AP - Misper Apawu

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

On February 1, 2022, Bissau-Guinean President Umaro Sissoco Embalo narrowly escaped a coup.

The sub-regional institution decided at its extraordinary summit on March 25 in Accra to approve the dispatch of a stabilization support force to the country.

This officially unfolds on Monday, June 20.

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With our correspondent in Bissau,

This is not ECOWAS' first peacekeeping operation in Guinea-Bissau.

She had deployed a force for stability and security after the April 2012 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, between the two rounds of the presidential election, of which the latter was the favorite.

The force, responsible for protecting the heads of institutions and public buildings, had made it possible to guarantee the stability of the country for eight years.

In September 2020, the Bissau-Guinean authorities believed that her mission was well fulfilled and that she could step down.

Seventeen months later, on February 1,

 that left eleven dead.

One more coup in the region, after those of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Faced with the resurgence of these changes by force of arms, ECOWAS has once again decided to send a support force to stabilize the country.

631 men made up of Nigerian, Ivorian Senegalese and Ghanaian soldiers are already in Bissau.

The official deployment of troops is scheduled for Monday.

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• Guinea-Bissau

• ECOWAS

• Carlos Gomes Junior