Guinea-Bissau soldiers killed President Joao Bernardo Vieira early yesterday in the hours after a bomb attack which claimed the life of the West African country's military chief, an army spokesman said.

Weeks of tensions between the president's followers and the military leadership had erupted into clashes in the capital on Sunday.

"President Vieira was killed by the army as he tried to flee his house which was being attacked by a group of soldiers close to the chief of staff Tagme Na Waie, early this morning," the military spokesman, Zamora Induta, told AFP.

Mr Induta added that the President was "one of the main people responsible for the death of Mr Tagme."

Mr Vieira was trying to escape when he was "taken down by bullets fired by these soldiers," he said.

Mr Vieira, 69, had been President on and off for nearly 23 years. He was returned to power in 2005 elections, six years after the end of a civil war that had driven him from office.

"The country will start up now. This man had blocked any momentum in this small country," Mr Induta said.

The killings followed a series of acts of violence committed in the past four months amid deep disagreements between the army, the Presidency and the ministry of internal administration. Guinea-Bissau has experienced a wave of coups, attempted coups and mutinies since its independence from Portugal in 1974.