Guinea’s strongman Colonel Mamady Doumbouya has sacked 44 generals and admirals in an apparent purge of the military top brass.
Guinean authorities announced that 42 generals and two admirals are required to exercise their right to retirement although the reason for the decision was not given.
The forced retirements come less than a week after Doumbouya, 37, appointed Mohamed Beavogui as his interim prime minister.
Former special-forces commander Doumbouya launched a coup on September 5, ousting elected president Alpha Conde after months of brewing discontent against his government.
Doumbouya defied broad condemnation of the coup and was sworn in as interim president on October 1, although he promised to restore civilian rule after a transition period of unspecified length and to unite the politically fractious nation of 13 million people.
Conde, 83, first won office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015. But last year, he pushed through a new constitution enabling him to run for a third term in October 2020.
The move sparked mass demonstrations in which dozens of protesters were killed. Conde won the election but the political opposition maintained the poll was a sham.