Residents of Burkina Faso were woken on 30 September, 2022 by weapons fired in various camps in the capital, Ouagadougou.
A large blast was also heard near the presidential palace, Reuters reporters said.
Soldiers reportedly fired heavy weapons at the Baba Sy Ouaga 2000 camp, witnesses said.
Armed soldiers took up positions along the avenue leading to the presidency and blocked access to administrative buildings and the national television, which had stopped broadcasting, Reuters said.
Military vehicles were also stationed along several streets that remained deserted as residents stayed indoors.
A government spokesman could not be reached.
It was not clear yet if this was a coup attempt but it bore the hallmarks of other power grabs that have swept across West and Central Africa over the past two years.
A military junta led by Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba took power in Burkina Faso in a coup on January 24.
Mr Damiba’s whereabouts is unknown; his government had been expected to hold a press conference on Friday afternoon to brief the media on the security situation and recent attacks.
His January takeover was largely celebrated by civilians fed up with former President Roch Kabore’s civilian government that was unable to rein in Islamist militants linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda.
The militants have killed thousands of civilians in recent years and taken over large parts of the north and east.
In his first statement after the January coup, Mr Damiba, often seen in public in military fatigues and aviator sunglasses, pledged to restore security.
But attacks in the impoverished West African country have worsened and the army is in disarray.
The rank and file, which gave Mr Damiba their support in January, have grown frustrated at the lack of progress, security sources say.
This week, unknown assailants killed 11 soldiers in an attack on a 150-vehicle convoy taking supplies to a town in northern Burkina Faso; 50 civilians are missing.
Militants have blockaded areas of the north, leaving communities stranded.
Government convoys and air drops deliver essential goods to trapped civilians.
Meanwhile, many cities and towns not under siege have seen their populations swell as people flee the violence from the countryside.
Health systems are stretched. Drought has led to high levels of malnutrition.
Protests against the military have cropped up in cities across Burkina Faso this week, including one in the northern town of Kaya on Saturday, to demand that the government do more to improve the security situation.
Much of the country has become ungovernable since 2018, millions have fled their homes, fearing further raids by gunmen who frequently descend on rural communities on motorbikes.
(Reuters/NAN)