Gambia's President, Yahya Jammeh, is reportedly en route to the nation's capital from a trip abroad on the heels of news that soldiers in the West African country attempted — but ultimately failed — to stage an early morning coup Tuesday to overthrow the notorious dictator.

Reports citing gunfire near the presidential palace in the capital of Banjul first surfaced on social media around 1am today. Some reported a developing military mutiny, including that fighters had overtaken an ocean port, airport, and a military post in Banjul, and had cut off access to part of the city.

Gunshots reportedly resounded as fighting broke out between a group of dissident ex-soldiers and regime loyalists battling for control of the presidential palace, Abdoulaye Saine, the chairman for the US-based diaspora group the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in the Gambia told VICE News. Saine added that a majority of the soldiers involved had been living in Europe and the US prior to Tuesday's coup attempt.

Members of both sides were reportedly killed in Tuesday's attack, and the dissidents forced to retreat into neighboring Senegal. Within a few hours, photos and media reports showed the quiet streets of a capital in lockdown, with only military personnel seen outside.

Jammeh, 49, who has headed the state for more than 20 years, is known for silencing dissenters and shoving them in prisons with deplorable conditions. The leader previously also claimed he could cure both AIDS and Ebola. He was reportedly either in France or Dubai when the coup attempt began, according to local media.

The US Embassy in Gambia confirmed the failed coup in an email to Americans living in the country. "It seems a coup attempt occurred last night," embassy spokesman Dan Whitman wrote in an email, according to the New York Times. "There has been no sign of transfer of political or military power."

Both the US and British governments have also issued travel warnings to their respective nationals, with the UK advising tourists already in the country to stay indoors. The nation enjoys a thriving tourism industry, despite its violent regime, and thousands of tourists — including 60,000 Brits — visit Gambia each year.

Gambia's state-run radio station Tuesday attempted to assuage concerns about violence in the region, issuing a statement that said: "Contrary to rumours being circulated, peace and calm continue to prevail in The Gambia. [The] government would like to urge the public and all businesses to continue with their normal activities."

'If he comes back, we really need help from the international community, because otherwise it's going to be a bloodbath.'

The Gambian government has yet to release an official statement on the incident, although an unverified Facebook post, which labeled the coup as a "heinous plot," has surfaced on a page linked to Jammeh.

Jeffrey Smith, an advocacy officer with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, told VICE News that despite the failed coup, insiders believed efforts to overthrow the dictator were not yet over, and that some had already indicated efforts to regroup. According to Smith, there seemed to be hope that dissidents could still prevent Jammeh from reentering the country.

Saine expressed similar hopes in a letter he sent to the US government and European Union Tuesday, which said that, "whether the attempted coup succeeds in dislodging President Jammeh and his regime or not, he has lost the moral ground, if not the war."

The foiled coup, he added, is "yet another blow to an already embattled regime and its head."

There were numerous conflicting reports of Jammeh's location and news of the timing of his return Tuesday. But, if or when he lands in Banjul, it's likely the leader will initiate a swift crackdown on suspected coup participants, according to Saine.

"If he comes back, we really need help from the international community, because otherwise it's going to be a bloodbath," he said.

Smith echoed these sentiments citing the "very, very brutal backlash" on Gambian citizens after a failed 2006 coup. Following that earlier attempted overthrow, Jammeh returned home from Mauritania and began to wage a brutal campaign that involved the execution and disappearing of dissidents. Those events could be a forecast of what is in store for Gambia's future, Smith said.

"I have never worked with people or seen a more restrictive environment than in Gambia," he said, adding that there was effectively no civil rights or protections in the West African country. "Ostensibly people have freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but they don't have protection after freedom of speech or freedom of expression."

Jammeh's administration has received an increasing amount of bad press over the last year, most notably from activists who railed against legislation enacted in October that made same-sex relationships a crime punishable by life in prison.

At the same time that humanitarian groups began pressuring the government to reverse these policies, the regime was also dealt a financial blow when the US halted a trade agreement with Gambia and cut the country's African Growth and Opportunity Acts benefits, citing the government's numerous human rights abuses.

The recent heightened attention on Gambia's internal activities was likely not the only catalyst of Tuesday coup, said Smith, who emphasized that Gambian society and the diaspora have long sought to see an end to Jammeh's despotic regime.

"It's part of a larger narrative of people being fed up from living under the dictatorship," Smith said. "He has a lot of enemies and for a good reason."