GUNFIRE rang out in Mali's capital city on Thursday as soldiers looted the presidential palace after seizing power in a military coup.

Witnesses in Bamako described bursts of shooting south of the central Badalabougou area as further details emerged about the mutinous soldiers, who have formed themselves into the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State (CNRDR).

The group appeared on Malian state television shortly after storming the presidential palace, stating that the government was incompetent. It has dissolved the constitution and democratic institutions, imposed a military curfew and closed the country's borders.

“The CNRDR has decided to assume its responsibilities by putting an end to the incompetent regime of Amadou Toumani Toure,” said a spokesman, Amadou Konare. “We promise to hand power back to a democratically elected president as soon as the country is reunified and its integrity is no longer threatened.”

Despite appeals for calm from Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who is emerging as the group's leader, residents in Bamako said gunfire was continuing and at least 20 people were reported to have been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.

“There has been more gunfire and people are scared,” said Abdoul Karim Ba, a resident in Bamako. “Everyone is staying at home and all the businesses are closed. This coup took everyone by surprise: Mali has been a stable democracy for 20 years.'

The events mark Mali's third military coup. Toure, a former military commander himself, overthrew a military regime in 1991 and was first elected as president in 2002 after he had overseen a transition to democracy. Last night, his whereabouts were uncertain. A government spokesman told the BBC that Toure was safe and not in the custody of the mutineers.

Anger towards the Toure government has been growing in the army since January when a rebellion led by rebels from the Tuareg ethnic group began attacking towns in northern Mali.

However, the CNRDR's claims to have democratic intentions were on Thursday dismissed by international organisations, which were swift to condemn the coup. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called for calm and said grievances had to be settled democratically. Jean Ping, head of the commission of the African Union continental grouping, said he was “deeply concerned by the reprehensible acts currently being perpetrated by some elements of the Malian army”.

By arrangement with the Guardian