Zimbabwe armed forces commander Constantine Chiwenga called for an end to purges in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party and said the security services would stop those “bent on hijacking the revolution.”

Chiwenga, speaking alongside the commanders of the army and airforce, was commenting on the upheaval in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front following Mugabe’s dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice president a week ago and his subsequent expulsion from the ruling party.