Gunfire and grenade blasts reverberated through Burundi’s capital overnight when a group of soldiers mutinied and attempted to stage a coup.

The leader of an attempted coup against President Pierre Buyoya is mentally unstable and misled his followers, a senior army official said today, as Burundians continued to puzzle over the strange incident.

A group of junior army officers who attempted a coup to oppose Burundi President Pierre Buyoya’s negotiations with Hutu rebels surrendered today, the defence ministry said.