There are reports of more fighting in the West African state of Guinea Bissau, following an attack by rebel soldiers against the army headquarters on Sunday.

Residents in the capital, Bissau, said they heard gunfire in the Bra area near the city's airport, as government troops apparently tried to re-capture two army barracks from the rebels.

The Portuguese news agency Lusasaid fighting had also broken out at Mansoa, sixty kilometres north of Bissau.

President Joao Bernardo Vieira has promised to crush the revolt, which he said was led by a former head of the armed forces ,Ansoumane Mane, and backed by members of opposition parties.

But a member of the opposition coalition, Manuel Barcelos, told Portuguese radio that opposition parties advocated non-violence and were not involved.