Lesotho police have been told to abandon their posts and not wear uniforms to avoid being targeted by the army, a senior police official said yesterday.

“Police fear for their lives because we have intelligence there will be an attack while we are on duty,” said Assistant Commissioner Lehloka Maphatsoe.

Police stations will not offer services to the population because of the likelihood of attacks on officers, said Mr Maphatsoe.

“At the moment, really, there’s nobody protecting the people,” he said.

At least one policeman was killed when the military disarmed police stations on Saturday.

Radios were also jammed in what the prime minister said was a clear coup attempt, but the military insisted it merely acted on information that police would be arming demonstrators in a political protest.