Cape Town — Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili was the victim of an assassination attempt on Wednesday, according to the chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), South African President Kgalema Motlanthe.

In a statement issued by the South African government, Motlanthe said Mosisili was attacked at his home in Maseru.

The Lesotho News Agency reported that four unidentified men had been killed and two captured following a shootout at State House in Maseru on Wednesday morning.

One of those caught had been admitted to a clinic in Ladybrand, a South African town across the border from Lesotho. Motlanthe's statement said the two attackers had been caught by South African security forces.

The agency also quoted the Lesotho communications minister, Mothetjoa Metsing, as saying that an army barracks had also been attacked. The incidents were politically driven, Metsing said.

Lesotho suffered instability in the 1990s as it recovered from a long period of one-party and military rule which began after its first post-independence government annulled elections in 1970.

It held peaceful elections early in 2007 during which Mosisili's party was returned to power.

Later than year, the homes of leading politicians were attacked but a curfew imposed in response was eased soon afterwards.

In his statement on Wednesday, Motlanthe said SADC condemned "any attempt at unconstitutional transfer of power. Such acts have no place in our region."