Maseru - Lesotho's top military leader, Khoantle Mots'omots'o, and two senior officers were shot dead at an army barracks, a defence forces official said.

The 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.

A news conference was scheduled to be held later in the day.

The impoverished mountain kingdom, surrounded by South Africa, has been through bouts of political turbulence since an attempted coup in 2014.