• Zimbabwe’s military said early Wednesday that it had taken custody of President Robert Mugabe. In a broadcast, an officer, Constantino Chiwenga, declared that the military was “targeting criminals” around the 93-year-old president.

• The military appeared to have taken control of the state broadcaster, ZBC. Maj. Gen. S.B. Moyo, the army’s chief of staff, said in a pre-dawn appearance that the president and his family were “safe and sound and their security is guaranteed.”

• President Jacob Zuma of South Africa spoke with Mugabe, who “indicated that he was confined to his home but said that he was fine,” according to a statement from Zuma’s office.

• Mugabe has been Zimbabwe’s only leader since it gained independence in 1980. Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, had been seen as a likely successor, but he was removed from office last week, a move that bolstered the political fortunes of Mugabe’s wife, Grace Mugabe, 52.

Is this a coup?

It certainly looks like one. General Moyo said, “This is not a military takeover,” but the image of men in uniform on state television in the middle of the night suggested otherwise.

The military said that it had moved to “pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation” and that once its mission was completed “the situation will return to normalcy.”

While General Moyo called Mugabe the commander in chief, the military’s actions starkly revealed the limits of the president’s control.

About half a dozen tanks were stationed around strategic government buildings and intersections in the capital, Harare, but shops and banks were open, and most people carried on with business as usual.

Who are the main figures?

Robert Mugabe. He has been at the forefront of Zimbabwe’s politics for decades, first heading the fight against white minority rule, then serving as the country’s leader through his governing party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF, since independence in 1980. Despite signs of his increasing frailty that include dozing off in meetings, stumbling and extended trips overseas for medical treatment, he has withstood multiple election challenges and years of U.S. sanctions. He appears to have stumbled badly with his firing last week of deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa, a longtime ally who had military support. The sacking led many in Zimbabwe to think that first lady Grace Mugabe was being positioned to succeed her husband and take up the post of vice president at a ruling party conference next month.

Emmerson Mnangagwa. A longtime ally of the president and a fellow veteran of the war for independence, Mnangagwa is a hard-liner who became vice-president and Mugabe’s probable successor three years ago. He is known as the Crocodile; as justice minister, he helped keep Mugabe in power by cracking down on the opposition. Mnangagwa became the target of increasing insults by the president and his wife in recent weeks. Mugabe sacked him last week and accused Mnangagwa of plotting to take power through witchcraft. The 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a fellow veteran of the fight for independence from Rhodesia and long enjoying the military’s support as a former defence minister, fled Zimbabwe citing threats to him and his family. His whereabouts remain unclear. Both the army and the influential war veterans group have expressed support for him.

Grace Mugabe. Mugabe’s wife of 21 years, is the head of ZANU-PF’s women’s wing and has support from the party’s younger activists. She had an affair with Mugabe that produced his first surviving children and married the president after his first wife died. Her political profile has soared in the past few years and she has openly indicated her interest in the presidency, even publicly challenging her husband earlier this year to name a successor. She led the campaign against another rival to succeed her husband, former Vice-President Joice Mujuru, and after Mnangagwa was removed from office she was seen as Mugabe’s most likely heir. She also has been a fierce defender of her ailing husband, declaring that he could run as a “corpse” in next year’s election and remain in power. The first lady, however, is not widely popular in Zimbabwe, where her lavish spending touches a nerve in a country whose economy has fallen apart. But she had appeared to have the support of the ruling party’s youth wing and led a faction of party leaders in their 40s and 50s in a growing generational divide.

Constantino Chiwenga. Monday’s unprecedented comments by the army commander warning against a purge of Mnangagwa supporters and other senior war veterans touched off the current drama. The statement by the 61-year-old Chiwenga also opened the first public rift between Mugabe and the military and set the country on edge. On Tuesday, armoured personnel vehicles were seen on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, leading to the overnight turmoil that saw the army commandeer the state broadcaster and announce it had Mugabe and his family in custody.

What we don’t know

Much is uncertain, and events are still unfolding. In the early hours of the military action, there were no public statements by Mugabe, his wife or Mnangagwa. The degree to which any of them support or oppose the military’s moves is unclear.

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Likewise, the military’s long-term plans are vague. General Moyo called on all soldiers to return to their barracks and announced a cancellation of all leave. He also warned other security services to co-operate. The extent to which the military might face resistance, from outside or from within, is unknown.

Negotiations were underway between Mnangagwa’s allies and opposition parties to possibly form an interim unity government, a move that would be likely to quell criticism of the military takeover.

With files from the Associated Press