Sporadic gunshots rocked the capital following the attempt to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza on Wednesday.
But the President downplayed any coup attempt, urging citizens not to panic.
"We ask all the people of Burundi to stay calm in the face of the impostor," he tweeted. "The situation is under control and the constitutional order has been safeguarded."
`Either it is a coup or not, no one knows`
Fear and uncertainty reigned as the President`s whereabouts remained unknown.
"People are staying indoors, not moving," said Gad Ngajimana, who lives in the capital of Bujumbura. "There was some fighting this morning. Gunfire lasted about 30 minutes. Now there is only gunfire about once every 10 minutes."
He said it`s unclear who`s in charge.
"The faces of the people -- they are very scared," he said. "Either it is a coup or not, no one knows."
Burundi, like its neighbor Rwanda, has a Hutu majority and a Tutsi minority.
While the current crisis is rooted in politics, some observers fear the government might try to stoke ethnic animosities in a last-ditch effort to retain power.
The last time the nation plunged into ethnic violence fueled by tensions between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis, the resulting civil war left 300,000 people dead.
Refugees flee to neighboring nations
Nkurunziza has been seeking a third term in office, which is prohibited by the agreement that ended the 1993-2003 civil war. Protesters determined to prevent his candidacy have demonstrated in the capital, and have been met with deadly force by police.
About 70,000 refugees have streamed into the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda, according to the United Nations.
The situation can escalate quickly, said Nsengiyumva Pierre Claver, a former member of a European Union electoral monitoring team.
"There is a very great risk of ethnic conflict." said Claver, who is in Bujumbura.
Postpone elections, neighbors say
Animosity against the President started last month, when he expressed his intentions to run for a third term.
Deadly protests hit the nation as he sought to extend his 10-year rule. He registered last week to run for a third term, angering protesters who`ve taken to the streets over his bid to stay in office.
Burundi`s constitutional court ruled that he is eligible to run again because he was picked by parliament, not elected by people, during his first term.
At least seven candidates have registered for the presidential race scheduled for next month. Among them is prominent opposition leader Agathon Rwasa, who helped lead rebel fighters in the country`s civil war.
East African Community leaders called for the elections to be postponed, saying conditions are "not conducive" to hold them.
Attempted coup
Army Gen. Godefroid Niyombareh announced on the radio Wednesday that the President had been dismissed.
Niyombareh, a former head of Burundian intelligence, was fired by the President in February.
An African Union official said a military coup attempt was underway Wednesday, but the government denied it`s under threat.
Reports of a coup are "a joke," government spokesman Willy Nyamitwe said. The President`s office said some soldiers had declared an "imaginary" coup. It appealed for calm, saying security forces are looking for the culprits.
"I would call this an attempted coup -- we don`t know whether or not it has been successful," said Tim Stevens, a professor at King`s College in London and an expert on political violence.
"What we have heard is that there has been both fighting and negotiations overnight, it is still very unclear."
President `s whereabouts unknown
Nkurunziza joined a summit of African leaders in nearby Tanzania on Wednesday to discuss the escalating chaos in his nation.
It was unclear whether he returned to Burundi following the summit.
"We don`t know where the President is -- we are relying on international news," said Ngajimana, the Bujumbura resident.
Burundi has closed its international airport and land borders, the U.S. Embassy told its citizens in an alert. Some airlines, including Kenya Airways, canceled their flights to Bujumbura until further notice.
The tiny landlocked nation is home to about 10 million people.
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