According to a Reuters reporter, gunfire was heard in the evening in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, and continued into the early hours of Friday.

UPDATE 10:05 AM Guinea-Bissau National Guard soldiers freed two members of the government who were being questioned by police Thursday night before a shootout with special forces, military and intelligence sources told TV5 Monde.

Economy and Finance Minister Suleiman Seydi and State Treasury Secretary Antonio Monteiro were summoned by the judiciary on Thursday morning and later detained.

The judicial police interrogated two high-ranking officials for several hours in the case of the withdrawal of ten million dollars from the state treasury.

According to sources, on Thursday evening, around 10:00 p.m., soldiers of the National Guard unit took the minister and the secretary of state out of the judicial police headquarters, took them to an unknown destination, and then retired to a barracks in the Santa Luzia district.

Guinea-Bissau, a young country with rapid development

Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced at least 10 coups or attempted coups.

Only one democratically elected president has served a full term in this West African country south of Senegal.

At least six people were killed in a failed attempt to oust President Umaro Sissoko Embalo last February.