Guinea-Bissau Troops Storm Empty Rebel Garrison

Army units in Guinea-Bissau stormed a military garrison where mutinous soldiers were believed to be holed up Thursday, but the rebels had fled and were at large in the West African country.

Antonio Dias, the Portuguese ambassador in Bissau, the capital, said the army met no resistance when it assaulted the Bissalanca garrison five miles outside the city.

“Shots were fired during the assault, but I believe there was no return fire,” Dias said by phone.

He said there were no reports of deaths.

After taking the base, army troops drove in trucks through the city firing guns into the air in celebration, according to Dias. Civilians cheered the troops, and the city was otherwise calm, he said.

Several hundred foreigners, mostly Portuguese, live in Bissau. Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony.

Dias said there was no word on the whereabouts of the insurgents and their leader, Brig. Ansumane Mane. Mane, who led a military rebellion that ousted the government in 1998, is reputedly an expert guerrilla fighter and a veteran of Guinea-Bissau’s fight against colonial rule until its independence in 1974.

Army spokesman Zamora Induta told the country’s state radio that the army was launching a manhunt for Mane, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported.

Mane prompted the crisis Monday when he announced that he was ousting the armed forces chief and taking charge.

His move, which came after a dispute with President Koumba Yala over military promotions, drew a protest from the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.