Guinea: scores killed in foiled jailbreak that briefly freed former dictator Camara

At least nine people were killed in a heavy gunfire in Guinea during the November 4-5 weekend when heavily armed commandos plucked the country’s ex-dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and three other former officials out of a prison, prompting a successful man hunt.

Camara, who was on trial over a 2009 massacre during his presidency, was later recaptured and returned to the Central House in the capital Conakry on Saturday, officials and lawyers said. Two of the men seized alongside Camara were also returned to the prison, while a third, Claude Pivi, was still at large. It was unclear whether Camara had escaped of his own free will in the raid, which the army described as an attempt to “sabotage” government reforms and swore its “unwavering commitment” to the current military-led authorities.

The borders had reportedly been closed and no flights took off from Conakry’s international airport on Saturday. The West African country of about 14 million people has been led by a military government since a coup in September 2021 when Colonel Mamady Doumbouya stormed the presidential palace with soldiers and overthrew civilian President Alpha Conde.

Dadis Camara and 10 other former military and government officials has been detained since going on trial in September 2022, charged with murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping linked to a 2009 massacre carried out by security forces loyal to the then-junta leader.