Sierra Leone on edge after attack

Authorities in Sierra Leone said Sunday they had arrested most of the leaders of a thwarted effort to break into one of the West African country’s key military armories and barracks, hours after they had declared a nationwide, open-ended curfew in response to the overnight attacks.

The country’s president, Julius Maada Bio, said Sunday evening that there had been “a breach of security” at several places in the capital, Freetown, including the Wilberforce military barracks, the armory, and the Pademba Road Prison, where some prisoners escaped.

The barracks are strategically placed near Bio’s residence, and the armory is one of the most important places where weapons are kept.

Most leaders of the attacks had been arrested, Bio said in an address broadcast on a stateowned TV channel, and “calm has been restored.” He did not provide details on who the attackers were and said that security operations and investigations were continuing.

The news reverberated across the region, which in recent years has endured a series of military coups. In Guinea, Sierra Leone’s neighbor, a junta rules despite global efforts to restore civilian governments.

The political situation in Sierra Leone has been tense since Bio, 59, a former military officer who took part in two coups during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990s, was reelected this year. The result of the vote was rejected by his main opponent and questioned by some observers who cited a lack of transparency.

In his address, Bio praised citizens for “complying with the security measures” and called on everyone “to remain vigilant and to cooperate with the security forces.”

According to local journalists, heavy gunfire was heard early Sunday in Freetown, and soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles could be seen setting up military blockades.