Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

More troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) were expected to be deployed in Lesotho Saturday to bolster the military intervention in the country, South African Press Association reported.

South African National Defense Force (SANDF) chief Siphiwe Nyanda said Friday that the reinforcement required political authorization. But meanwhile, SANDF spokeswoman Laverne Machine said the implementation was a fait accompli.

The number of reinforcement was not disclosed, but Machine said it was essential that the size of the force be increased to secure areas beyond capital Maseru.

Nyanda, who toured Maseru Friday, said that the initial objective of suppressing a Lesotho defense force mutiny and seizing weaponry had been achieved.

South Africa sent 600 troops to Lesotho Tuesday to help control the situation in the tiny land-locked country where government had been forced to shut down amid the opposition parties' intensified campaign to protest the country's May election results.

Botswana also sent troops to Lesotho Wednesday to back the SADC mission.

Addressing a press conference, Nyanda denied that the SADC force had invaded Lesotho. He said the force had been invited by the Lesotho government and would leave once the government requires a withdrawal.

Nyanda said that he regretted the destruction of Maseru's business district but denied the SADC force was responsible for this. The SADC force was unable to prevent the looting and arson in Maseru on Tuesday and Wednesday because of the resistance of rebel Lesotho defense forces, he added.

Nyanda noted that the force's strategy was to use minimum force to achieve maximum effect.

Operation commander Robbie Hartslief said that the SADC force wanted to minimize loss of life and destruction of property and therefore did not fire at looters and arg/Y%MQM94R $RX9:slief said although the central business district of Maseru had been burnt down, the city's industrial area including chemical and fuel storage facilities had been secured.

He said that 160 Lesotho soldiers had been taken prisoner and some soldiers had been killed. But the task force did not know the whereabouts of the bulk of Lesotho's approximately 3,000-strong army.

Machine said that an unknown number of troops had sealed themselves in underground bunkers at the Makoanyane base near Maseru. They had only limited oxygen supplied and no food or electricity, she said.