A fresh riot by Malian soldiers struck Mali's Gao town, 1,200 km northeast of the capital Bamako, where gunshots were heard, according to a military source, hours after soldiers opened fire into the air and occupied state broadcaster in the capital.

"For a few minutes, we hear shots fired in the air. It's almost a panic in the city where people rush to go to shelter in their homes," the source told Xinhua by telephone.

Earlier in the day, soldiers at camp Kati, a town 15 km from Bamako, seized weapons and heavy artillery to reach the presidential palace. In the afternoon, they went down to protest in Bamako, where they took control of the Malian Radio-Television Office (ORTM), to vent their anger over the government's handling of a crisis caused by the Tuareg armed rebellion in the north of the country.

In Bamako, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) is trying to position forces at the crossroads to prevent vandalism.

For now, there have been no reports of civilian casualties since the soldiers simply fired into the air.

According to sources close to the mutineers, the soldiers demand more means to fight the rebels in the north and a "radical change in command of the troops."