The president of Guinea-Bissau was assassinated Monday, a day after a powerful explosion killed the head of the west African country's military, the prime minister said.
Circumstances of Joao Bernardo Vieira's death are unclear.
It was not immediately clear how President Joao Bernardo Vieira, 69, died. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes confirmed the death to CNN.
Early Monday, gunfire and rocket explosions were heard near the presidential palace in the capital, Bissau, which lasted for an hour or so, according to local media. Looting was later reported at the presidential palace.
Vieira's death comes a day after Gen. Tagme Na Waie, chief of Guinea-Bissau's military, was killed in an explosion.
Na Waie died when a bomb went off in his office Sunday, according to local news reports. Five other high-ranking military officials were wounded, two of them critically.
After the attack, all local radio stations were ordered to immediately suspend their programs.
Na Waie's predecessor also was assassinated. Gen. Verissimo Correia Seabra was shot dead by soldiers in October 2004.
Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, has a history of military coups. Monday's development is the latest violence over four months as the army and Guinea-Bissau's president have clashed.
The tiny country, located between Guinea and Senegal, has a population of 1.5 million and is considered one of the five poorest countries in the world, according to the CIA Factbook.
The country has been in a near-constant state of political upheaval since independence from Portugal in 1974.
In 1980, Vieira became president after a military coup. He was accused of purging political rivals and suppressing dissent, but several coup attempts throughout the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him.
In 1994, the country held its first free elections, and Vieira was elected president. He held the post for five years, until a military mutiny ousted him, and the country plunged into civil war.
Successor Kumba Yala took office in 2000. He also was unseated in a military coup after three years.
Yala's ouster paved the way for Vieira to once again run for office. In 2005, he was re-elected president, pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation.