The President of Burkina Faso, Roch Kaboré, has been detained by mutinying soldiers.
Some troops in the West African nation have also demanded the sacking of military chiefs and more resources to fight Islamist militants.
According to the BBC, gunfire had been heard overnight near the presidential palace and at barracks in the capital, Ouagadougou.
Other reports Monday afternoon say the president has been forced to sign a resignation letter.
On Sunday the government denied suggestions of a military coup or that the president was under arrest.
Video from the capital appears to show armoured vehicles reportedly used by the presidency – peppered with bullet holes and abandoned in the street.
Mobile internet services have been disrupted, though fixed-line internet and domestic wi-fi are working. Soldiers have also surrounded the state television headquarters and there was no live programming on Monday.
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Reports say that a sense of normality has returned to the streets and no shooting can be heard, and people and cars are moving through the city.
A crowd has gathered in front of the president’s private residence, wanting to understand what happened during the night.
But the government denied the rumour that a coup was underway and that the president had been arrested.
Bathelemy Simpore, the country’s defense minister, denied the rumour that Kabore had been detained.
“The head of state has not been detained; no institution of the country has been threatened,” Simpore was quoted to have said on national television.
“For now, we don’t know their motives or what they are demanding. We are trying to get in contact with them,” he said, adding that calm had returned to some of the barracks.”
The Burkina Faso authorities later declared a curfew from 8pm to 5:30am until further notice.
Schools across the country were also directed to be closed for two days (Monday and Tuesday).
The incident comes a day after protesters took to the street to demonstrate against the government’s inability to stop attacks and killings of civilians by militants.
