Heavy security has been deployed after sustained gunshots were heard near the central prison in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, according to media reports.

It was unclear who was shooting or what triggered the gunfire on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment by the authorities.

A witness reported seeing several military pickup trucks carrying armed security forces and a machine gun-mounted armoured carrier deployed around the central administrative district of Kaloum, Reuters news agency reported. The presidential palace is also located in Kaloum.

A security detail made up of police officers and special forces blocked access to the area leading to the prison on Tuesday morning, an AFP news agency journalist reported, though all routes to the prison were later re-opened.

At least three armoured vehicles belonging to the special forces were also visible in front of the prison and three ambulances were seen leaving it.

“I heard the sound of vehicles speeding by, I rushed to the window and heard automatic gunfire,” Thierno Balde, an accountant who works in the neighbourhood, told AFP, confirming similar statements by other witnesses.

The shooting reportedly began shortly before 9am local time (09:00 GMT) and lasted just more than half an hour, with rapid gunfire ringing out.

Abdouramane Doukoure, a retired civil servant, said he was heading past the prison in a car when he “heard the gunshots. Since there was a traffic jam, we all rushed in different directions to escape.”

Another resident whose home is next to the prison reported hearing gunfire inside the facility but “as we speak, things have calmed down”.

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But “we don’t know for how long”, the resident added.

Guinea’s central prison is no stranger to violent episodes.

In 2023, nine people were killed during a jailbreak in which armed commandos briefly freed former President Moussa Dadis Camara.