A Dutch aid worker was killed in an attack by unknown gunmen at the house of Lesotho's trade and industry minister, police said Saturday.
Police spokesperson Pheelo Mphana said that the 36-year-old woman, who has not been identified pending notification of next of kin, worked for the Clinton Foundation, which runs HIV and Aids programmes in the poor mountain kingdom.
The woman, her husband and two American aid workers arrived at Minister Mpho Malie's house in a taxi late Friday. As they got out of the car, they were attacked by heavy gunfire, Mphana said.
"The driver sustained serious gun wounds and was admitted at the Queen Elizabeth II hospital while the Dutch lady died on admission at the hospital," said Mphana.
The minister and his wife were not present at the residence at the time as they were in neighbouring South Africa. The whereabouts of the four guards at Malie's residence at the time of the attack was unknown.
Mphana said that 24 AK47 assault rifle shells were found at the scene of the shooting.
"Police investigations are continuing and we do not know the motive for the shooting," he added.
However speculation was rife that the attack was politically motivated and aimed at the minister himself.
It was very similar in style to an attack against Lesotho Foreign Minister Monyane Moleleki's residence earlier this year, when he was shot in the arm at his residence's gate in Maseru.
It is also similar to the one that claimed the life of a popular politician and member of Lesotho's parliament, Bereng Sekhonyana, in August.
The attack on Malie's house came just hours after the head of state of Lesotho, King Letsie III, announced the dissolution of the country's sixth parliament to pave the way for general elections in February next year, three months earlier than scheduled.
Along with Foreign Minister Moleleki, Malie is seen as a major contender for the leadership of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) after the current leader Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili quits.
The road leading to the Hills View suburb, where the residence is situated, was patrolled by heavily armed members of the Lesotho Defence Force on Saturday.
Some residents voiced fears that the attacks were an ominous sign that the elections in this poverty stricken nation of 1,8 million people may be bloody.
The LCD won a landslide victory in 2002. But this time around it faces a stiff challenge from a new political party, All Basotho Convention, led by former Minister of Communications, Science and Technology Tom Thabane.
Lesotho has endured repeated political violence since it gained independence from Britain in 1966, and it suffered heavily from its dependence on neighbouring South Africa under apartheid. There was a military coup in 1986 and Letsie III was installed as king by the army in 1987 after his father was forced into exile. After more upheavals, troops from South Africa and Botswana briefly occupied the capital in 1998 and 1999, allegedly to try to restore order.
The last elections in 2002 were generally deemed to be the fairest to date. But the benefits of democracy have been blunted by rampant poverty and one of the world's highest Aids rates which has decimated rural communities. - Sapa-AP