Zimbabwe army says takes power, Mugabe "safe and sound"

REFILE - CORRECTING TYPO IN SLUG Soldiers stand beside military vehicles just outside Harare,Zimbabwe,November 14,2017. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's military on Wednesday confirmed that it had seized power in a targeted assault on "criminals" around President Robert Mugabe, but gave assurances that the 93-year-old leader and his family were "safe and sound".

In a short broadcast on national television, which was seized overnight by soldiers, a spokesman for the military said it expected "normalcy" to return as soon as it had completed its "mission".

(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)