The situation is now under control following Thursday’s deadly shootout in the capital of Comoros.
Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudou says four people died during a gunfight between government forces and a group of renegade soldiers who broke out of Moroni prison.
The gunfight started shortly after an announcement by opposition leaders that they had formed a transition council to remove President Azali Assoumani from power.
Minister Daoudou identified Fayssoil Abdoussalam as the mastermind of the attack. Abdoussalam was serving time for attempting a coup in the island in 2018.
Daoudou would not say whether Abdoussalam died in the shootout.
Tensions ratcheted up in Comoros following the reelection of President Azali Assoumani. Assoumani received more than 60 percent of the vote. The opposition rejected the result saying the election was marred by fraud.
In August last year, protests erupted after President Assoumani won a referendum to extend presidential term limits and end a system of rotating power among the archipelago’s three main islands.
