Gunfire erupts near Guinea's presidential palace and the military locks down the area

CONAKRY, Guinea —

Shots were fired late Thursday near the presidential palace in Guinea’s capital Conakry, and the army locked down the city center and evacuated it. It wasn’t immediately clear who was shooting or why.

Local journalist Fode Toure, who was a few hundred meters from the presidential palace, told The Associated Press he heard gunshots and saw people running away in panic. An AP reporter near the palace saw heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets.

Guinea has been ruled by a military junta following a coup in 2021.