Lesotho Defence Force

The Lesotho Defence Force is the national military of the Kingdom of Lesotho, a mountainous country entirely surrounded by South Africa. It numbers about 2,000 personnel and is charged with internal security, territorial integrity and defence of the constitution. Because South Africa surrounds the kingdom, external defence is in practice guaranteed by its larger neighbour, so the force is used mainly at home. It is chiefly an army with a small air wing. The army began as a paramilitary police force separate from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service and was set up on 1 April 1978, recognised as an army in August 1979, and expanded in the 1980s against insurgent activity. After the 1986 coup it was renamed the Royal Lesotho Defence Force. The force took part in the 1986 coup, in the unrest of 1994, 1998 and 2007, and in 2021 sent a contingent to Mozambique as part of a Southern African Development Community mission.