Sources say army made its move after prime minister fired the army commander
Lesotho’s Prime Minister Thomas Thabane on Saturday accused his country’s army of mounting a coup against him and said he had fled to South Africa, but the military denied seeking to oust him and said its soldiers had returned to barracks.
Gunfire was heard in Maseru, capital of the small mountainous Southern African kingdom encircled by South Africa, and army units occupied police headquarters and surrounded the prime minister’s residence, residents and diplomats said.
“It is a military coup because it is led by the military. And the military are outside the instructions of the commander in chief, who is myself,” Thabane told South Africa’s ENCA TV by telephone.
Thabane told the BBC he had fled to neighboring South Africa. “I will return as soon as my life is not in danger,” he said. His precise location was not immediately known.
Thabane said he would meet South African leaders, representing the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) later on Saturday to discuss the crisis in Lesotho, which followed tensions between rival factions of the two-year-old governing coalition.
Residents and diplomats said that heavily-armed soldiers had surrounded State House and also occupied the main headquarters of the police force, which is loyal to Prime Minister Thabane.
The diplomats said that the army was mostly loyal to Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, who had vowed to form a new coalition that would oust Thabane, who in June suspended parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote.
Giving its version of events, the Lesotho Defense Force denied attempting a coup against Thabane, saying it had moved against police elements suspected of planning to arm a political faction, an army spokesman said.
“There is nothing like that, the situation has returned to normalcy … the military has returned to their barracks,” Major Ntlele Ntoi told Reuters. He added the military “supports the democratically-elected government of the day.”
Ntoi said one soldier and four police had been injured during the army action.
Diplomatic sources said the army made its move after the prime minister had fired the army commander, Lt.-Gen. Kennedy Tlali Kamoli. The army spokesman said Kamoli was still in charge of the military.
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