The Burkina Faso army seized control of the national television headquarters and the capital's main square on Sunday in defiance of calls by the international community and thousands of demonstrators to hand over power to civilian rule.

Troops moved in to Place de la Nation in Ouagadougou, setting up barricades and removing thousands of people who had gathered to denounce the army's power grab after the turbulent ouster of president Blaise Compaore on Friday.

The U.S. State Department called on the military in Burkina Faso to hand over power to civilian authorities amid a power vacuum left by the ouster of president Blaise Compaore.

"We call on the military to immediately transfer power to civilian authorities," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement Saturday, adding that "the United States condemns the Burkinabe military's attempt to impose its will on the people of Burkina Faso."

Burkina Faso's army on Saturday backed a military officer's claim to lead the country's transition to democratic elections, as the ousted president Blaise Compaore took refuge in neighboring Ivory Coast.

Compaore resigned Friday after unrest over plans to extend his 27-year rule exploded into violence that saw parliament set ablaze, in protests closely watched across a continent where other veteran heads of state are also trying to cling to power.

The United States on Friday urged Burkina Faso to ensure any political transition would take place in accordance with the constitution, after embattled leader Blaise Compaore resigned.

Compaore said he was making way for elections after a violent uprising against his 27-year rule that saw protesters storm and set fire to parliament.

Violent clashes in Burkina Faso that led to the overthrow of the president are a stark warning to other African leaders pushing constitutional change to hang on to power, analysts say.

Chaos in Burkina Faso erupted this week as lawmakers prepared to vote to allow 63-year-old Blaise Compaore -- who took power in a 1987 coup -- to contest elections in November 2015.

Burkina Faso's embattled President Blaise Compaore announced on Friday that he was stepping down to make way for elections after a violent uprising against his 27-year rule.

His resignation came as tens of thousands of protesters demanded that he quit immediately after a day of unrest that saw mass demonstrations, with protesters storming and setting fire to parliament.

Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore was toppled on Thursday as the army took power after protesters set parliament ablaze in a popular uprising against the veteran leader's 27-year-rule.

The demonstrators earlier forced the government to scrap a vote on controversial plans to allow Compaore to extend his reign, with tens of thousands of people joining a mass rally in the capital Ouagadougou calling for the strongman to go.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday dispatched a special envoy to Burkina Faso to help end a wave of violence engulfing the West African country.

The U.N. special envoy for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, will be in Burkina Faso on Friday as part of a joint peace mission with the African Union and the West African grouping ECOWAS.

Blaise Compaore, the long-serving president of Burkina Faso, took power in a coup in 1987 but quickly swapped the "democratic revolution's" Marxist ideals for authoritarian rule.

The 63-year-old may have been re-elected four times since 1991, but it was often with dubious percentages of the vote.

Protesters battled police in the capital of Burkina Faso on Tuesday after a massive rally against plans to let the long-serving president extend his rule beyond 30 years.

Firing tear gas, security forces charged demonstrators after they apparently ventured too close to parliament. Most of the protesters fled but several hundred stayed on to battle the police, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.