Some individuals who took part in the attack on the government house in Guinea-Bissau have been arrested, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said in a video address.

This comes after continuous shots of gunfire were heard on Tuesday near the seat of the government in Guinea-Bissau, according to AFP reporters. The African country is prone to a coup, which the regional bloc condemned as an "attempted coup”.

Men who were heavily armed surrounded the Palace of Government in Bissau, where they thought President Umaro Sissoco Embalo would be, in addition to the Prime Minister, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, attending a cabinet meeting. 

The scene showed people fleeing the area, while shops, markets, and banks were coming to a close as military vehicles roamed the streets. 

Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Guinea-Bissau told Sputnik that rebels had taken Embalo hostage. After a fierce five-hour firefight, he was liberated and taken to the presidential palace.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, expressed deep concern with the news of heavy fighting in Bissau, calling for "an immediate end to the fighting and for full respect of the country's democratic institutions." 

Guinea-Bissau, a Portuguese colony formerly, is an impoverished African state with a population of 2 million. 

Since gaining independence in 1974, the country has seen 4 military coups. The most recent of them was in 2012.