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Security forces in Benin are searching for the soldiers who tried to seize power on Sunday morning, with the president saying they have taken an unknown number of hostages.
The coup plotters appeared on state TV to announce they had taken over, and gunfire was heard near the presidential residence.
The BBC reports that President Patrice Talon however, later announced that the situation was “totally under control” in the West African country.
Regional power, Nigeria, assisted in thwarting the mutiny, saying its fighter jets had helped “dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp” following a request from Benin’s government.
On Sunday afternoon, huge explosions were heard in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and seat of government and they were thought to have been the result of an air strike.
Prior to the explosions, flight-tracking data showed that three aircraft had entered Benin’s airspace from neighbouring Nigeria before returning home and the extent of the damage was not clear.
Earlier on Sunday, Benin government Spokesperson, Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji, told Reuters news agency that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the attempted coup.
A journalist in Benin also told the BBC that of those reportedly arrested 12 are believed to have stormed the offices of the national TV station – including a soldier who had previously been sacked.
The coup plotters said they were led by Lt Col Pascal Tigri, whose whereabouts are not known.
In Sunday evening’s national address, the 67-year-old president said that loyalist forces had “cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers”.
“This commitment and mobilisation enabled us to defeat these opportunists and avert disaster for our country. This treachery will not go unpunished,” he added.
“I would like to reassure you that the situation is completely under control and therefore invite you to go about your business peacefully.”
It was not clear if there have been any casualties, but the president expressed his condolences “to the victims of this senseless adventure, as well as to those still being held by fleeing mutineers”.
There had been a series of coups in West Africa before Sunday’s thwarted attempt in Benin, heightening fears that the security of the region could worsen.
Benin, a former French colony, had been regarded as one of Africa’s more stable democracies but Talon had faced accusations of suppressing criticism of his policies.
The nation is one of the continent’s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world’s poorest countries.
Nigeria, Benin’s large neighbour to the east, has described the coup attempt as a “direct assault on democracy”.
The French and Russian embassies on Sunday urged their citizens to remain indoors, while the US embassy’s advice was to stay away from Cotonou, especially the area around the presidential compound.
The rebel soldiers justified their actions by criticising Talon’s management of the country, complaining first about his handling of the “continuing deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin”.
Benin’s army has suffered losses near its northern border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso in recent years, as jihadist militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda spread southwards.
Sunday’s attempted coup comes just over a week after Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, was overthrown – though some regional figures have questioned whether this was staged.
In recent years, West Africa had also seen coups in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger, prompting concerns about the region’s stability.
Russia had strengthened its ties with these Sahel countries over recent years – and Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have left the West African regional bloc Ecowas to form their own group, the Alliance of Sahel States.
News of the attempted takeover in Benin was hailed by several pro-Russian social media accounts, according to BBC Monitoring, however Ecowas and the African Union (AU) both condemned the coup attempt.
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