Correspondents reported hearing up to 10 minutes of gunfire coming from nearby the national broadcaster's building and at a military barracks outside Bamako.

The soldiers were believed to be frustrated with government efforts to fight nomadic Tuareg rebels waging a rebellion in the north of the country. The rebellion has claimed the lives of numerous government troops, some of whom complain of a lack of arms and food.

"Soldiers took up arms at the Soundiata Keita military camp in Kati to protest and demand suitable weapons to fight the rebels," a witness inside the camp told news agency AFP.

It was thought the protest erupted following a meeting between the angry soldiers and Defense Minister General Sadio Gassamain Kati that reportedly "turned sour."

By afternoon, soldiers had surrounded the state television station and, by evening, troops began rioting in the northern town of Gao. There were also reports of gunfire at the presidential palace.

After the assault on the broadcasting headquarters, television screens across the country went blank for hours. Transmission were resumed shortly before midnight with the promise that a government statement would be issued.

Appeal for calm

The UN Security Council appealed for calm and was due to hold an emergency briefing on Thursday after fears were raised in a closed meeting.

"Members of the council expressed concern about the reports of military disturbances in Mali,” said Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, the council president for March. “They appealed for calm from all stakeholders and respect for the constitutional order.”

Tensions had already been high in Mali ahead of scheduled presidential elections in April.

Tuareg rebels have taken several key towns as part of their decades-long struggle for a free state in the north of the country. Their ranks have been bolstered by Tuareg fighters returning from combat in the Libyan uprising.

dfm,rc/pfd (AFP, Reuters)