South Africa's military intervention to "promote stability" in the tiny, land-locked mountain kingdom of Lesotho cost more lives yesterday as South African troops, backed by a contingent of Botswana soldiers, encountered further resistance in their drive to suppress the Lesotho Defence Force.
The number of South African soldiers killed in action rose to nine after 24 hours of fighting, the South African National Defence Force said. It put the number of fatalities suffered by the 2,000-strong Lesotho Defence Force at 40.
The South African statement did not give details of civilian casualties, but a local doctor in Lesotho told journalists that at least eight people had died in his wards.
The injured included two journalists, an Associated Press photographer who was shot in the leg and a London Times reporter who was hit in the shoulder.
The intervening South African and Botswana soldiers - who entered Lesotho at the behest of the kingdom's beleaguered Prime Minister, Mr Pakalitha Mosisili - yesterday gained control of the Katse Dam, an important link in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, and the Ratjemose military base.
But they were still encountering fierce resistance late yesterday from Lesotho soldiers at the Makonyane military base near Lesotho's capital, Maseru.
"The Combined Task Force's approach to date has been to concentrate on neutralising the militant and hostile Lesotho Defence Force dissidents, to avoid any clashes with civilian personnel, to minimise damage to property and to use minimum force in conducting the operation," the South African National Defence Force said.
But while South African troops and their Botswana allies were engaged in capturing positions defended by Lesotho combatants, the centre of Maseru was once again vulnerable to looters.
For the second day in succession, shops were raided by marauding bands, thought to be mainly supporters of opposition parties.
As Lesotho citizens and expatriates, including Irish nationals, sought refuge in South Africa yesterday, debate continued over whether Mr Mosisili had acted constitutionally in requesting military assistance from the Southern African Development Community, whose present chairman is President Nelson Mandela.
Apart from the dispute as to whether Mr Mosisili's victory in the May election was legitimate, opposition politicians argued that he had not fulfilled his constitutional obligation to consult King Letsie III before requesting the help of foreign armies.
Mr Mosisili did not deny that he had acted without consulting the monarch, claiming that the king was part of the problem because he had assisted opposition protesters in their drive to make Lesotho ungovernable by "harbouring" them in the grounds of his palace.
South African government ministers insisted that a de facto coup against Mr Mosisili's government had taken place, citing - in particular - the purging of the Lesotho Defence Force of its senior officers by pro-opposition junior officers.
They contended that South Africa was forced to fulfil its commitment as a guarantor of peace under a 1993 agreement signed by South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Lesotho.
The South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela, yesterday endorsed the military intervention in Lesotho as essential to end "chaos and anarchy". He said the situation was normalising and the king and prime minister were preparing a broadcast to the people.