20110415
reuters

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Disgruntled soldiers in Burkina Faso, including members of President Blaise Compaore's security regiment, fired their weapons in the capital on Friday after going on a rampage in an apparent mutiny, witnesses said.

The shooting was the most serious incident in a series of protests by soldiers in the poor West African country that began last month.

"I was going in the direction of the Lamizana (military) camp when I heard the gunfire. I saw people rushing back towards me, so I turned around and went back home," said Pierre Tapsoba, a resident of the Gounghin neighbourhood in the west of the capital Ouagadougou.

"I haven't been out since. It's bad," he said.

A military source, who asked not to be named, said some members of the presidential security regiment stationed near Compaore's palace had fired into the air late on Thursday, angry that promised benefits had not been paid.

Soldiers from three more barracks joined the protest and the houses of some military chiefs responsible for the president's security were attacked, the source said.

A Reuters witness heard automatic weapons fire from around 2100 GMT on Thursday. The shooting continued on Friday in some parts of Ouagadougou, with soldiers looting shops and commandeering cars.

Calm returned to the city's streets in the early afternoon.