Based on the report of the General Staff, four civilians and twelve armed men from the Buffalo Battalion and the Army attempted to occupy a military facility. They were all captured or killed.
One of the victims was Arlisio Costa, a former mercenary in the Buffalo Battalion, a South African group liquidated in 1993. Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada believed that Costa was one of the financiers of the coup.
The man was arrested but later died after jumping from a moving vehicle. Four men, including former spokesman Delvim Neves, were arrested on Friday after being betrayed by captured commandos.
Fierce fighting took place at the army headquarters
Trovoada said the commandos had previously attacked the army headquarters, where a six-hour fight broke out between them and the soldiers. Neves was the leader of the outgoing parliament and lost his position on 11 November when the members of the new legislature were installed. The centre-right Truvoada party won the September 25 elections with an outright majority.
The Prime Minister objected that some people do not accept the will of the voters. The Cabinet strongly condemned the attempt to overthrow the constitutional order and indicated that it would launch an investigation.
In the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, near the equator, west of Gabon, there have been several coup attempts in recent decades, the most recent of which were in 2003 and 2009. After that, parliamentary democracy took root in the country. Sao Tome and Principe gained its independence from Portugal in 1975, MTI reports.
