A failed coup attempt was behind clashes that left at least 21 dead on Sunday in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, the inspector general of police told reporters on Tuesday.
"We did investigate an attempted coup which failed in the early hours of the 26th of November", William Fayia Sellu said, adding that "a group of people" had tried to illegally "unseat" the government with force.
Freetown residents woke up to gunfire and explosions on Sunday as authorities announced that armed assailants had attacked a military armoury.
Several prisons were also stormed with many prisoners escaping.
West African bloc ECOWAS said Tuesday it was ready to deploy regional support to underpin stability in the West African nation.
"The chair of authority... has asked us to underscore the readiness and the commitment of ECOWAS to support the people of Sierra Leone to strengthen national security by all means, including... the deployment if needs be of regional elements," Omar Alieu Touray, president of the ECOWAS commission delegation visiting Freetown, said.
Touray did not specify what was meant by "elements."
However, Nigeria's chief of defence staff, General Christopher Musa, said: "The armed forces of ECOWAS countries are fully in support of the government of Sierra Leone and are fully ready and willing to provide any necessary support whenever called upon."
Police Tuesday published photographs of 32 men and two women it said were being sought in connection with the unrest. They include serving and retired soldiers and police as well as some civilians.
A police statement posted on social media offered a "handsome reward" to anyone coming forward with information on the "fugitives."
The office of President Julius Maada Bio posted pictures on social media showing him late Monday receiving the ECOWAS delegation headed by Nigeria.
Nigerian national security adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, warned that "anything that will interfere with democracy, peace, security and stability of Sierra Leone will not be accepted by ECOWAS and by Nigeria."
The clashes left 13 dead among loyalists soldiers, according to the army.
A forensic services official told AFP late on Monday that at least four attackers and two civilians were also killed in an hours-long standoff.
The West African nation experienced a political crisis after elections in June, until an agreement was reached in October following mediation by the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS.
The latest unrest has sparked fears of yet another coup in West Africa, where Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea have all experienced putsches since 2020.
President Bio himself led a coup in the 1990s before handing over power and returning to politics as a civilian years later.