Guinea President Alpha Conde detained as military seizes power 

There are reports that Guinea’s President Alpha Condé has been held hostage by soldiers, amid insinuations of a coup in the West African country.

Guinea’s Defence Minister has however said the coup has been thwarted.

Reuters reports that heavy gunfire broke out near the presidential palace in Guinea’s capital city of Conakry on Sunday morning.

Several sources also say an elite national army unit led by a former French legionnaire, Mamady Doumbouya, was behind the unrest.

At the moment, soldiers are patrolling the deserted streets of the city centre.

In a video shared on social media, soldiers from a unit of elite special forces ask President Condé to confirm he is unharmed but he refuses to respond.

His captors say all land and air borders have been closed and the government dissolved.

83-year-old Conde won a controversial third term in October, after tampering with the constitution.

He has had to contend with violent protests from the opposition.