The Pakistani Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, was ousted in a military coup last night after sacking the country's powerful army chief, Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, apparently over policy on Kashmir.
Gen Musharraf told the nation on television the armed forces had to intervene to end "uncertainty and turmoil." The "self-serving policies" being followed by Mr Sharif's government had "rocked the very foundations of the country," he said.
State-run television, in a statement issued several hours after troops surrounded Mr Sharif's residence in Islamabad, the capital, and took over key installations, said Mr Sharif's 2 1/2-year-old government had been removed.
"The government has been dismissed," the brief statement said. Later a military source said Mr Sharif had been placed under "protective custody" by the army along with his younger brother, Mr Shahbaz Sharif, who had been chief minister in the family's home province of Punjab.
Lieut. Gen. Khawaja Ziauddin, the head of the military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency who was chosen to replace Gen. Musharraf, was also inside the residence with several ministers, sources said. He was also said to be under "protective custody".
The reason for the coup is believed to be the retreat of Pakistan-backed guerrillas in Kashmir, after pressure from Washington.
Mr Sharif's guards were disarmed and he was told not to leave his residence. Armed troops sealed off the international airport and state-run radio and television buildings in Islamabad. Mobile telephones were jammed and many telephone lines went dead. People were unable to call outside the country.
Hundreds of people, including reporters, gathered outside the Prime Minister's residence.
The first thing most Pakistanis knew about the army's actions was when a television news bulletin dramatically went off the air.
Gen. Musharraf was on a visit to Sri Lanka when he was sacked.
The coup in Pakistan comes at a crucial moment in neighbouring India. The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to be sworn in today following his victory in recent elections, said he viewed developments in Pakistan as "a matter of grave concern". India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers.
Pakistan's powerful military has a history of coups against civilian governments, having ruled the country for 25 of its 52 years.
Sources said the army had elsewhere detained some federal and provincial ministers, including the Information Minister, Mr Mushahid Hussain, and chief of the accountability bureau, Mr Saifur Rehman. Three provincial ministers were detained in Lahore, capital of Punjab, security sources in the city said.
The Prime Minister was said to have been on his way to the TV station when soldiers arrived in force outside.
The television station in the commercial capital, Karachi, was also said to be under the military.
The exiled Pakistani opposition leader, Ms Benazir Bhutto, blamed Mr Sharif for provoking the coup. She said Mr Sharif had sought to politicise the army and the army had therefore risen against him.
"Ever since Nawaz Zharif took over he sought to dismantle democracy," said Ms Bhutto in London. "The people believe that the man is violating every rule of law and there is no-one to stop him.
"The armed forces had to protect themselves as an institution," Ms Bhutto said in an interview with Sky television.
Earlier, she said the situation in her homeland resembled civil war, but she later toned down this analysis.
She said she would return to Pakistan if free and fair elections were allowed.
The US has expressed its concern at the coup and called for the restoration of civilian rule. It also warned that relations with Pakistan would not be on a "business as usual" basis with the new regime. There was cautious reaction to the first reports of the military take-over and the State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, preferred to use the term "political crisis" rather than "coup".
The military take-over comes just weeks after US officials expressed concern about a possible coup because of political unrest and the opposition demands for the dismissal of Mr Sharif.