Kinshasa, Congo ? Government forces put down an apparent coup attempt Sunday after attacks on military installations and television headquarters in the Congolese capital by forces believed loyal to former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the British ambassador told the Associated Press.

The government refused to characterize the violence but said the administration of President Joseph Kabila remained in power.

“We have the situation under control,” government spokesman Vital Kamerhe said. Interior Minister Theophile Mbemba said the attack would not destabilize the government.

Fighters loyal to Mobutu, Congo’s late Cold War dictator, were among those who launched the attack, British Ambassador Jim Atkinson told The Associated Press. Mobutu was overthrown in 1997 by then-ruler Laurent Kabila, Joseph’s father.

The assault represents the first major threat to the power-sharing government meant to reunify and stabilize Congo after a devastating five-year civil war in which an estimated 3 million people died, mainly through war-induced hunger and disease.

The attacks began before dawn and lasted through four hours of gunfire. Shooting eased by late morning, when the government overcame the attacks.

Kabila was believed in the country Sunday but where was not known.

“I have it on good authority that he’s safe,” Atkinson said.

Congolese officials said the simultaneous predawn attacks targeted an army camp near Kabila’s offices, a military airport, a naval shipyard on the Congo river and the national radio and television headquarters.

Some of the men arrested by government forces after an alleged coup attempt are shown to the media in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. Government forces defeated what diplomats called a coup attempt against President Joseph Kabila on Sunday, battling attackers at military installations and television headquarters in the capital.

Congolese forces apprehended 12 assailants, government spokesman Vital Kamerhe said, adding that untold numbers of the civilian-clothed attackers disappeared into the city with their weapons. He said the battle killed one soldier and wounded two others.

Congo officials said the government of national unity would continue its mission to move Congo beyond its ruinous 1998-2003 war, which saw foreign-backed rebels take control of the east and much of the north.