Protesters storm Burkina Faso Parliament | World News |Axisoflogic.com

People stand in front of smoke rising from the Burkina Faso's Parliament, where demonstrators set cars on fire parked in a courtyard of the Parliament, on October 30, 2014 in Ouagadougou, as they protest at plans to change the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaore to extend his 27-year rule. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images) | ISSOUF SANOGO via Getty Images

Protesters stormed Burkina Faso's parliament and set its main chamber ablaze Thursday in the most significant challenge ever to the president's 27-year rule in one of the world's poorest countries.

The demonstrators wanted to a block a vote in parliament that would have allowed President Blaise Compaore to seek a fifth term. State television and radio went off the air and it was not immediately clear where Compaore was.

"It is over for the regime!" and "We do not want him again!" shouted demonstrators when they heard that the vote on term limits had been stopped.

Flames enveloped the main building in the parliament complex, and many lawmakers fled to a nearby hotel.

"It is difficult to say what happens next, but things are out of control because the demonstrators do not listen to anyone," said Ablasse Ouedraogo, an opposition lawmaker.

In a bid to restore calm, military leaders met Thursday afternoon with the influential traditional chief of the country's largest ethnic group, the Mossi, according to Jonathan Yameogo, a spokesman for the ruling party.

Burkina Faso has long been known for its relative stability in volatile West Africa, though tensions have been mounting over Compaore's plans to extend his rule. The president took power in a 1987 coup and has been elected four times since, though the opposition has disputed the results.

Crowds also attacked the homes of government ministers and looted shops in the country's second-largest city, Bobo Dioulasso, witnesses said.

Earlier, police in the capital had pushed the crowds back with tear gas, but they regrouped in larger numbers, surged past police lines and broke into the parliament building.

Since coming to power in a coup, Compaore, 63, has refashioned himself as an elder statesman who brokered electoral disputes and hostage releases throughout the region.

He made no secret of his support for Charles Taylor, the Liberian warlord turned president now serving a 50-year sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone. The leader of Burkina Faso also has been accused of supporting rebel groups in Ivory Coast and Angola, though he later played the role as a peacemaker in Ivory Coast and elsewhere.

More recently, his government was involved in negotiating the release of several European hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants in northern Mali. He also hosted the talks between Mali's government and separatist Tuareg rebels, leading to the agreement which made the July 2013 presidential election possible.

In 2011, Compaore encountered another crisis when multiple waves of protests washed over the country. The unrest began with students torching government buildings in several cities after a young man died in the custody of security forces, allegedly as a result of mistreatment.

Ordinary citizens took to the streets over rising food prices, and soldiers looted shops and stole cars to express their discontent over low pay. At one point in mid-April of that year, mutinous soldiers occupied the palace, forcing Compaore to flee.

But what would have spelled the end for many presidents was a mere temporary problem for Compaore, one he could maneuver his way out of by removing his security chiefs and appointing himself defense minister before returning to Ouagadougou.

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