The military's actions forced the prime minister to go into hiding in South Africa, the SA Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said.

However, the prime minister had earlier said he was in South Africa visiting his daughter and would return to Lesotho on Sunday.

The South African government, which has exerted influence in the kingdom, called for restraint.

"We are calling on the commander of the armed forces to return to the barracks and allow the democratically elected government to return to its business," DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.

He said the actions by Lesotho's military bore the hallmarks of a coup d'etat, but said, "The situation in Lesotho is still unfolding. No one has claimed to take over government ... so we are monitoring that ... our interest is to see it resolved through peaceful means."

Monyela ruled out the possibility of military intervention right now in case of a coup.

He said military intervention wasn't under consideration at this time.

"We prefer peaceful resolution to any crisis, particularly if it's a political crisis ... Such things become last resorts," he said.

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community will intervene and they are trying to bring all players to the table for talks at this time, according to Monyela.

In March 1998, parliamentary elections in Lesotho resulted in an overwhelming majority for the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy Party, which won 79 out of 80 seats. However, allegations of vote fraud soon surfaced, and after a failed lawsuit by the opposition parties, widespread rioting broke out.

The SADC intervened in an operation codenamed Operation Boleas, led by South Africa through its South African National Defense Force, which sent troops into Lesotho to quell an ensuing coup.