Soldiers patrol the area around the seat of government in Guinea Bissau after sustained gunfire, as regional bloc ECOWAS condemns what it calls 'an attempted coup'. People flee the area, while military vehicles laden with troops drive through the streets. Heavily-armed men surrounded the Palace of Government, where President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam were believed to have gone to attend a cabinet meeting. The West African nation has seen four military putsches since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, most recently in 2012. IMAGES