South Sudan's President Salva Kiir says an attempted coup by soldiers loyal to his sacked former deputy Riek Machar has been put down.
It comes after heavy gunfire overnight in the capital, Juba.
Mr Kiir told reporters in the capital that the government was in full control and the culprits being pursued, and announced a night-time curfew.
Several people are reported wounded and hundreds of civilians have sought refuge at the UN mission in Juba.
The UN has expressed concern and appealed for calm. It said it was in touch with the government.
Hilde Johnson, the special representative in the country, said she was "deeply concerned" and urged "all parties in the fighting to cease hostilities immediately and exercise restraint".
"I have been in touch regularly with the key leaders, including at the highest levels to call for calm," she said.
Airport closedTensions have been high in South Sudan - the world's youngest country - since President Kiir dismissed his entire cabinet, including his deputy Riek Machar, in July in an apparent power struggle.
Mr Machar, who had indicated he planned to contest the presidential elections in 2015, now leads a dissident faction within Mr Kiir's ruling party, the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Mr Kiir is from the Dinka community, which is the largest in South Sudan, while Mr Machar is from the Nuer, the second-largest. Some Nuer have complained about Dinka political domination.
The fighting in Juba broke out overnight, and intensified in the early morning.
There were reports of continuous gunfire and several explosions. The city's airport has been closed and the state TV channel SSTV went off air for several hours.
Shortly after it came back on air, SSTV broadcast an address from Mr Kiir, wearing military uniform rather than his usual civilian clothing and flanked by government officials.
He said the violence "was an attempted coup", but that the government was "in full control of the security situation in Juba".
"The attackers fled and your forces are pursuing them," he said.
Mr Kiir said the fighting began when unidentified uniformed personnel opened fire at a meeting of SPLM.
The SPLM would never allow power to be transferred by force in South Sudan, he said.
"The security organs will also undertake full investigations into these incidences, and the government will ensure that the culprits answer for their crimes before the appropriate law institution.
"Rest assured that the government is doing all it can to make sure that citizens are secured and safe."
He said a curfew would be in place from Monday night between 18:00 and 06:00.
Civilians fleeThe city was reportedly calm by mid-morning, but heavily armed troops were seen on the streets.
The UN-backed Radio Miraya said four children had been wounded, two critically.
Hundreds of people, mainly women and children, had taken shelter at the UN compound at the airport and at a UN house in the city.
"We hope the security situation in Juba will quickly normalise to enable the civilians to return very soon to their residential areas. To that end, UNMISS (the UN mission in South Sudan) calls on all parties to show continued calm and restraint," it said in a statement.
The mission also denied it was "harbouring any key political or military figures".
One resident who lives near the presidential guard barracks told the BBC that many people had sought refuge at a Catholic church.
The UK and US embassies in Juba urged their citizens via Twitter to stay indoors and exercise caution.
The US embassy also denied rumours that Mr Machar had taken shelter there.
In a statement, the US said embassy staff had spoken to a range of officials and concerned parties "in order to urge calm, restraint, and a settling of differences through a peaceful political means rather than through violence".
South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011, after a referendum intended to end decades of conflict. But the oil-rich country is ethnically and politically divided, with many armed groups active.
Sudan: A country divided
Both Sudan and the South are reliant on their oil revenues, which account for 98% of South Sudan's budget. But the two countries cannot agree how to divide the oil wealth of the former united state. Some 75% of the oil lies in the South but all the pipelines run north. It is feared that disputes over oil could lead the two neighbours to return to war.
Although they were united for many years, the two Sudans were always very different. The great divide is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.
Sudan's arid north is mainly home to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in South Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs, alongside Christianity and Islam.
The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In South Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.
The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.
Throughout the two Sudans, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.
Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in both countries. The residents of war-affected Darfur and South Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.
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