Tanks have been spotted heading towards Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. Eyewitnesses said military vehicles were also blocking roads outside the city.
It comes amid rising tensions between the east African nation’s military and the country’s ruling Zanu-PF party, headed by President Robert Mugabe – the only leader Zimbabwe has known in 37 years of independence.
The president plunged the country into political crisis by sacking his vice president Emerson Mnangagwa, 75, last week. The long-serving veteran of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation wars, had been viewed as a likely successor to Mr Mugabe before the president fired him.
But his downfall appeared to pave the way for his wife Grace to succeed her 93-year-old husband.
A number of people posted images of the military vehicles on social media. Some called it “a coup”. The Independent was unable to verify where the military vehicles were travelling and for what purpose.
But earlier this week, Zimbabwe’s top general warned that the military would not hesitate to step in to end purges against former liberation war fighters including Mr Mnangagwa.