Lesotho’s top army commander was shot dead by rival officers at a military barracks, officials said Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Khoantle Motsomotso was killed in a gunfight with two officers who forced their way into his office at the barracks. The two officers also died, according to the Associated Press.
Lesotho’s military has long been entwined with the tiny Southern African nation’s political woes. The army led a 1986 coup to push out a long-serving government and has been involved in a number of political actions, including a coup in 2014 and the assassination of a former army chief in 2015.
The party of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane won elections in June, returning him to power three years after he fled Lesotho to neighboring South Africa due to fears he would assassinated.