The military has taken over Zimbabwe, placing President Robert Mugabe under house arrest and detaining senior government officials in what many are expecting to be the beginning of a transition of power

By Nwankwo onyinye

Military officials denied carrying out a coup as they took over the state TV and broadcast a message insisting the president and his wife were “secure”, adding that they were targeting a ring of government plotters following a power struggle that saw the vice-president flee the country last week.

Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said he had spoken to Mr Mugabe by phone who told him he was “confined to his home but said that he was fine”.
"It is not a military takeover of government," an army spokesman said in a televised statement. "We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplished our mission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy."

The address came hours after several loud explosions echoed across central Harare and troops seized the headquarters of the ZBC, Zimbabwe's state broadcaster.
Several cabinet ministers, including local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere and finance minister Ignatius Chombo, and Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwayo, were arrested. There was allegedly a brief gun fight outside Mr Chombo’s house. All three are part of the G40 faction of Zanu-PF which is loyal to Grace Mugabe, who was being lined up to take over from her husband after the vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa was fired last week.
Zimbabwe has just experienced its first coup. This type is called a guardian coup but whatever name it's a coup.

Boris Johnson called for calm in a statement to the House of Commons in which he also criticised Mr Mugabe's legacy and suggested that a transition may provide a "moment of hope" for Zimbabweans.

Speculation had been mounting on Tuesday that a coup was under way against Mr Mugabe, after the head of the armed forces threatened to "step in" over the sacking of an influential vice president.
Gunfire erupted near Mr Mugabe's private residence in Harare in the early hours of Wednesday, residents living close to Mugabe's mansion in the suburb of Borrowdale said. Armed soldiers took positions at major buildings and routes.