Commander of Lesotho defence force shot dead: defence official

MASERU (Reuters) - Lesotho's top military leader, Khoantle Mots'omots'o, and two senior officers were shot dead on Tuesday at an army barracks, a defence forces official said. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported that some senior Lesotho politicians had fled the country. Colonel Tanki Mothae, the principal secretary for defence forces, confirmed the killing of Mots'omots'o, who was commander of the Lesotho Defence Force, but provided no further details. Local media reports said the officers had forced their way into the commander's office triggering a shoot-out and that they were killed by his bodyguards. These reports could not be immediately verified. A news conference was scheduled for later on Tuesday and a South African government official said Pretoria would shortly issue a statement about the situation. South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has made frequent trips to Lesotho to secure peace among political rivals as a facilitator for the Southern African Development Community. The impoverished mountain kingdom, which is surrounded by South Africa, has been subject to several coups since gaining independence from Britain in 1966. It has been through bouts of political turbulence since an attempted coup in 2014 and its last three elections -- most recently in June -- have failed to produce winners with clear majorities. The wife of Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane was shot dead in June, two days before her husband's inauguration, raising fears of another wave of political violence in the country. (Reporting by Marafaele Mohloboli; Writing by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia and Jon Boyle)