Story highlights The messages are clear in Harare: Zimbabwe's military is calling the shots

Opposition official: Talks ongoing to form some kind of transitional government

Harare, Zimbabwe (CNN) Down the road from a fast-food joint serving peri-peri burgers and fries, three soldiers perch themselves on top of an armored personnel carrier to watch traffic.

The scene is what passes for normal these days in Harare.

The police are nowhere to be found in Zimbabwe's capital. Usually they are everywhere, in their blue and white uniforms, often trying to fleece motorists for this or that.

They've been ordered to stay home.

Not even members of the Presidential Guard, who once said they would die for President Robert Mugabe, are calling the shots. In their yellow berets, they are confined to peering over the wall of their headquarters near the State House.

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