From allies to foes: How uneasy relations between Sudan army, separate force exploded into violence
The explosion of violence in Sudan comes after years of building tensions between the country's two most powerful armed forces CAIRO -- Over recent years, Sudan’s military and a separate armed force accumulated power, each suspicious of the other, even as they worked together against the country’s pro-democracy movement. Officers inside both forces say it was a long-building recipe for disaster. Their tenuous alliance ended in mid-April, when they turned their guns on each other, sparking a conflict that threatens to engulf African’s third largest country. In interviews with The Associated Press, more than a dozen senior officers from Sudan’s military and the rival paramilitary known as the Rapid Support Forces described what led them to an all-out war. They, along with political activists and a U.N. official, recounted how both sides made power grabs, shifted alliances and moved to protect their interests under international pressure for a transition to civilian government. All sp...