Unrest within the army has been simmering Shooting has been heard at an elite barracks in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, where unrest within the military has been simmering.
Soldiers at the presidential guard barracks in the presidential compound reportedly fired into the air in protest at unpaid housing subsidies.
Gunfire was later heard elsewhere, possibly at another barracks.
President Blaise Compaore sought to calm soldiers earlier this month after protests over pay and conditions.
Earlier on Thursday, marches were held in the capital and other towns to protest at rising food prices and alleged civil rights abuses, AFP news agency reports.
Burkina Faso, a struggling country of 16.3 million people, has been affected by the turmoil in neighbouring Ivory Coast.
The World Bank warned on Thursday that the Ivorian conflict had disrupted supplies and also pushed prices up for processed foods such as dried milk, sugar and vegetable oil in Burkina Faso and other landlocked countries in the region such as Mali and Niger.
There was no official comment on the cause of the shooting but a presidential guard officer told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that it was over housing subsidies.
“A couple of young soldiers have gone crazy,” a source at the barracks told the agency.
President Compaore was reportedly not in the presidential compound at the time.
Reports varied about the second shooting, saying variously that it had occurred at a second guard barracks about 3km (two miles) from the presidential palace, or near the state radio station.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Mr Compaore has ruled the country since taking power in a coup in 1987, after which he won four presidential elections, the latest in November 2010.
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