General Juan Jose Zuniga was arrested following the coup attempt. (Photo/Reuters/via BBC).

Bolivian security forces restored calm and arrested an army commander behind a coup attempt on Thursday hours after his troops attacked the presidential palace before backing down.

The country’s army chief Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga vowed to “restore democracy” and unleashed armored vehicles that rammed into the palace and almost took control of the government, Associated Press reported.

It was indicated that within hours, President Luis Arce named a new army commander, who immediately ordered the troops to stand down, and soon the soldiers pulled back.

President Arce condemned the coup attempt, calling on the public to “organize and mobilize in favor of democracy”.

“We cannot allow once again coup attempts to take Bolivian lives,” he said in a televised message to the country from inside the presidential palace.

Hundreds of the president’s supporters then rushed the square outside the palace, waving Bolivian flags, singing the national anthem and cheering.

The soldiers’ retreat was reportedly followed by the arrest of army chief Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, after the attorney general opened an investigation.

The apparent coup attempt came as the country has faced months of tensions and political fights between Arce and his one-time ally, former leftist president Evo Morales, over control of the ruling party. It also came amid a severe economic crisis.