The government of Benin has stated that it has foiled a coup attempt by members of the West African nation's armed forces.

"The Beninese armed forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic," Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said in a televised address.

Earlier on Sunday, a group of soldiers made a broadcast saying they had ousted President Patrice Talon. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they had heard gunshots and some journalists working for the state broadcaster were held hostage.

A presidential adviser has since told the BBC the president is in a safe location.

French diplomats have denied earlier reports that he had taken refuge at France's embassy in Cotonou, Benin's largest city and the seat of the country's government.

"Early on Sunday morning, 7 December 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny aimed at destabilising the state and its institutions," Seidou said in his address.

But loyalist soldiers were able "to retain control of the situation and foil the attempt", he added.

Helicopters have been seen flying over Cotonou and roads are blocked with a heavy military presence on several streets.

Benin, a former French colony, has been regarded as one of Africa's more stable democracies.

It is one of the continent's largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world's poorest countries.

The French and Russian embassies urged their citizens to stay indoors. The US embassy's advice was to stay away from Cotonou, especially the area around the presidential compound.

The rebel soldiers, led by Lt-Col Pascal Tigri, justified their actions by criticising President Talon's management of the country.

Their first complaint concerned his handling the "continuing deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin".

In recent years, Benin's army has suffered loses near its northern border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso as jihadist militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda spread southwards.

The soldier's statement cited "the ignorance and neglect of the situation of our brothers in arms who have fallen at the front and, above all, that of their families, abandoned to their sad fate by Mr Patrice Talon's policies".

The rebels also hit out at cuts in health care and taxes rises, as well as curbs on political activities.

Talon, who is 67 and regarded as a close ally of the West, is due to step down next year after completing his second term in office, with elections scheduled for April.

A businessman known as the "king of cotton", he first came to power in an election in 2016. He promised not to seek a third term and has endorsed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as his successor.

Talon has been praised by supporters for overseeing economic development, but his government has also come in for criticism for suppressing dissenting voices.

In October the electoral commission barred the main opposition candidate from standing on the grounds that he did not have enough sponsors.

Last month constitutional amendments were passed by MPs, including the creation of a second parliamentary chamber, the Senate.

Terms for elected officials were extended from five to seven years, but the presidential two-term limit remained in place.

This coup attempt in Benin comes just over a week after Umaro Sissoco Embaló was overthrown as president in nearby Guinea-Bissau.

In recent years, there have been several coups in West Africa, including in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger, heightening fears that the security of the region could worsen.

Russia has 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.

According to BBC Monitoring, news of the attempted takeover was hailed by several pro-Russian social media accounts.

Ecowas and the African Union (AU) condemned the coup attempt.

AU Commission chair Mahmoud Ali Yousouf reiterated the pan-African organisation's "zero tolerance stance toward any unconstitutional change of government, regardless of context or justification".