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

It was not immediately known, though, how much support Doumbouya had within the military or whether other soldiers loyal to the president of more than a decade might attempt to wrest back control.

Conde’s whereabouts had been unknown for hours after the intense fighting on Sunday in downtown Conakry until a video emerged showing the 83-year-old leader tired and dishevelled in military custody.

Doumbouya, the commander of the army’s special forces unit, later addressed the nation. “We will no longer entrust politics to one man. We will entrust it to the people.”

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