Soldiers take up arms as Mali crisis deepens. According to several reports, Mali's president and prime minister were arrested by a mutiny of soldiers.

The development comes after Malian soldiers took up arms and on Tuesday staged an apparent mutiny at a key base in Kati, a city near the capital, Bamako, sparking fears of a coup.

It follows a weeks-long political crisis that saw opposition protesters take to the streets demanding President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita 's resignation, accusing him of causing the country's economy to crash and mishandling a deteriorating security situation.

There were reports of senior politicians and army officers being held but it was not clear by whom.

Amid the confusion, opposition protesters gathered at a square in Bamako while regional and international powers urged the soldiers to return to the barracks and foreign embassies advised their citizens to stay indoors.

Developments are moving fast in Mali. Here are a few recent stories about developments in the country to get you up to speed.

The AFP news agency, citing a source identified as a leader of the mutiny, said soldiers in Mali have detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse.

"We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control," the leader, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

He added that the pair had been "arrested" at Keita's residence in the capital Bamako.

The report could not be independently verified. Reuters news agency has reported, citing two security sources, that Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been arrested by mutinying soldiers in the capital Bamako.

The arrest came after soldiers mutinied at the Kati army base outside of Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian and military officials, according to Reuters.

The report could not immediately independently verified. French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the soldiers' mutiny in Mali on Tuesday with his Malian counterpart and other West African leaders, expressing his support for mediation efforts by the ECOWAS regional bloc, the presidency in Paris said.

Macron discussed the unfolding situation with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the leaders of Niger, Ivory Coast and Senegal, and "condemned the attempted mutiny under way," the Elysee Palace said in a statement.     

The French presidency did not say precisely when Macron's talks with the African leaders took place.