An attempted coup in Gabon by a group led by a lieutenant in the Republican Guard has been thwarted with two plotters killed, several more arrested and the military retaking control of the capital, according to government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou.

France quickly condemned the action, insisting that political change must come via constitutional processes — sentiments echoed by the African Union Commission chair Moussa Fakki Mahamat and United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres.