Commander of Lesotho defence force shot dead, South Africa calls for calm

MASERU (Reuters) - Lesotho's top military leader, Khoantle Mots'omots'o, and two senior officers were shot dead on Tuesday at an army barracks, the government said.

While it was not immediately clear what the motivation for the shooting was, the kingdom has been subject to several coups and periodic political violence since gaining independence from Britain in 1966, and South Africa called for calm.