Soldiers stand beside military vehicles just outside Harare, Zimbabwe, Nov. 14,2017.
At least three explosions, as well as heavy gunfire, were heard in the Zimbabwe capital of Harare early Wednesday, according to local witnesses.
Witnesses also said military vehicles and soldiers were on the streets early Wednesday, hours after soldiers took over Zimbabwe's state broadcaster, ZBC. Local residents said instead of the usual 11 p.m. newscast, music videos were played instead.
A spokesman at the U.S. embassy in Harare told VOA the streets appeared calm overnight Wednesday and had no confirmed sightings of military vehicles. The embassy warned Americans via its web site to "shelter in their residences" and work from home on Wednesday. They said the embassy will be minimally staffed and closed to the public.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe's ruling party has accused the armed forces chief of "treasonable conduct" after he threatened to intervene in the country's political affairs.
The statement from the ZANU-PF party was released amid worries that the military might be taking action to oust longtime President Robert Mugabe.
Witnesses reported tanks and armed personnel carriers moving on roads outside the capital; however, Harare was calm and embassies issued no security alerts for their citizens.
A spokesman for the State Department told VOA, "We are aware of the reports and are monitoring the situation."
Soldiers stand beside military vehicles just outside Harare, Zimbabwe, Nov. 14, 2017.
The current tension was sparked last week when Mugabe fired his deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and accused him of disloyalty and plotting to seize power. Many observers saw the move as a step toward the installation of Mugabe's wife, Grace Mugabe, as vice president. That would put the first lady in position to become president when her 93-year-old husband retires or dies.
At a Monday news conference, the head of Zimbabwe's armed forces, General Constantino Chiwenga, warned he would "step in" unless Mugabe stopped trying to purge the ruling ZANU-PF party of Mnangagwa supporters. Dozens have been arrested since the vice president was fired on November 5.
FILE - President Robert Mugabe talks to General Constantino Chiwenga in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Tuesday's ZANU-PF statement, signed by party information secretary Simon Khaya Moyo, said that Chiwenga's comments were "clearly calculated to disturb national peace and stability" and meant to "incite insurrection and violent challenge to the Constitutional Order."
President Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since the country won independence from Britain in 1980.
Mnangagwa, 75, was seen for years as a likely successor to the president, and maintains strong backing in the army. He is now believed to be in South Africa.
Grace Mugabe, 52, has support in the party's youth wing and is believed to have engineered the firing of another vice president, Joice Mujuru, in 2014.
VOA's Cindy Saine, Anita Powell, Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.
In Photos: Robert Mugabe's years in power
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe: Decades in Power
1/20Robert Mugabe co-leader of the Patriotic Front guerrilla forces, is seen at a press conference in London, Dec. 19, 1979, when it was announced that he and Joshua Nkomo had reached an agreement at Lancaster House on a new constitution, transitional arrangements and a ceasefire.
4/20Zimbabwean Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, right, and Yasser Arafat, left, pose for photos after being garlanded by two 10-year-old school girls, Jean Chitanda, left, and Tsitsi Chikasha, on Arafat's arrival at Harare Airport, Zimbabwe, April 14, 1987, to attend a meeting of the Non-aligned Movement's Committee on Palestine.
5/20Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe stands in the rubble outside the building which housed the headquarters of the African National Council in central Harare, after it was heavily damaged in a raid by South African commandos, May 19, 1986.
7/20Deputy President of the African National Congress Nelson Mandela, center, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, far right, greet the crowds at the start of the new Zimbabwe public holiday, Mandela Day, March 5, 1990, in Harare.
9/20President Bill Clinton gestures while talking to Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe in the Colonnades of the White House, Washington, May 18, 1995, after their Oval Office meeting.
10/20Grace Marufu, the new bride of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, right, waves at guests, Aug. 17, 1996, after their wedding ceremony at the Kutama catholic mission 42 miles, (80kms) of Harare.
11/20President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, left, is met at the Harare International Airport, June 1, 1997, by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
15/20Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, center left, and his wife Grace, center are joined by his family as they cut the cake during his 93rd Birthday celebrations in Matopos on the outskirts of Bulawayo, Feb. 25, 2017.
16/20Police on horseback accompany Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's Rolls Royce during the opening of the 5th session of the last parliament in Harare, Sept. 12, 2017.
19/20Zimbabwe Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda presides over a parliament session where a motion is moved to impeach President Robert Mugabe, Nov. 21, 2017.
20/20People remove the portrait of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe from the wall at the International Conference center, after his resignation, Nov. 21, 2017 in Harare.
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