Lesotho

The Kingdom of Lesotho ('Muso oa Lesotho) is a country in southern Africa. It is an enclave-nation, entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Formerly Basutoland, it is a member of the British Commonwealth. The name Le-sotho roughly translates into "the land of the people who speak Sotho".

Defense

The security force is composed of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF--estimated 3,500 personnel) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS). The LDF consists of an army, an air wing, and a paramilitary wing. The LDF answers to the Prime Minister (who is the Minister of Defense and National Security and also the Minister of Public Service), while the Lesotho Mounted Police Service reports to the Minister of Home Affairs. There also is a National Security Service (NSS), Intelligence, which is directly accountable to the Prime Minister. Relations between the police and the army have occasionally been tense, and in 1997 the army was called upon to put down a serious police mutiny.

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