It was not immediately clear what prompted the decision which comes at a time of increased political sparring well ahead of general elections in 2028.

"The president... has relieved and retired Lieutenant General Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and as commander of the Zimbabwe National Army with immediate effect," chief secretary to the president Martin Rushwaya said in a statement.

Sanyatwe was redeployed as minister of sport, recreation, arts and culture, he added.

A former commander of the presidential guard, the 69-year-old has served as Zimbabwe's ambassador to Tanzania.

In 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Sanyatwe for human rights violations over the state crackdown against civilians during post-election protests in August 2018. At least six people were killed.

The sanction was lifted in 2024 under former US President Joe Biden.

His assets were also frozen by the UK government in 2021.

Sanyatwe's removal from the army comes at a period mounting repression in the southern African country bowed by an economic crisis blamed on government-led corruption and incompetence.

Police are holding a journalist who interviewed former ruling party veteran, Blessed Geza, who expressed backing for Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is reportedly vying to succeed Mnangagwa.

Political analyst Eldred Masunungure said Sanyatwe's ouster served to protect the Mnangagwa from a mutiny.

"It's part of the coup proofing," he told AFP, saying the purge would target people within the army suspected to be sympathetic to Geza, a veteran of Zimbabwe's fight for independence.

"It is a highly risky politically. It can backfire," he said.

Mnangagwa, whose party has been in power for more than four decades, came into power in 2017 through a military coup that toppled long-serving president Robert Mugabe.

Hopes of a thaw with Zimbabwe briefly surfaced after Mnangagwa assumed office, but Western powers and rights groups say that the government remains intolerant to opposition and protests.