The sacked vice president of South Sudan has called on his supporters to remain calm, as a political crisis unfolded in the world's youngest country following the president's dismissal of his deputy and entire cabinet.
Heavily armed South Sudanese troops and police on Wednesday guarded key government institutions in the capital Juba, as radio broadcasts called for calm.
Those removed include two of the young country's most influential leaders - vice president Riek Machar, as well as Pagan Amum, the secretary-general of the ruling party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
"Please remain calm and be assured that our aspiration to lead this country to prosperity and stability won't be intimidated by anything," Machar posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
Machar said he heard President Salvaa Kiir had fired him through media reports on Tuesday evening.
"We've chosen to handle everything politically and this is how we're going to continue," said the former vice president who is seen as a potential rival to Kiir in the 2015 election.
The sackings have sparked concern over potential instability in the fledgling nation, awash with guns, riven by ethnic rivalries and still reeling from decades of war.
"We are asking our citizens, please do your duty and go to work," said Barnaba Marial Benjamin, who until his suspension late on Tuesday was the information minister and government spokesman.
"Give the president a chance to form his government ... he has already empowered the technocrats to see the day-to-day running of the administration," Benjamin said in a broadcast on Wednesday on the United Nations-supported Radio Miraya.
All 29 ministers were suspended as well as their deputies, in addition to 17 police brigadiers.
Kiir said he was reducing the number of government ministries from 29 to 18.
The move came just a week before an expected shutdown of all of the country's oil exports - the only major source of foreign earnings - as a result of a row with Sudan.
It remains unclear how the country will proceed politically, with the move by Kiir viewed as a sign of deep divisions within the ruling SPLM party.
Troops and armed police blocked several key roads in Juba, with a heavy deployment at the government ministry complex, but the city was reported calm, army spokesman Philip Aguer said.
"This is routine work, they are being deployed to protect the ministries," Aguer told AFP.
Many of the ministers were key figures in the rebel SPLM or its armed wing that fought a brutal 1983-2005 war against the government in Khartoum, which led to a 2011 referendum in which South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to split from the north.
No replacements have been announced, and it was not immediately clear whether all those suspended would return, or if new blood would be brought in to replace them.
While Juba has been rife with rumours in recent weeks about a potential reshuffle by Kiir - especially concerning tense relations with his deputy Machar - the move still took those involved by surprise.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following decades of civil war.
