Some think it could indeed end in a matter of days with a clash between army factions loyal to each man.

The priests, the army faction and the Lowlords have had a good shot at killing us.

But he was assassinated by a dissident army faction in October.

The gunshots sent dozens of people fleeing for cover in what appeared to be fighting between army factions, witnesses said.

Some army factions are committed to keeping power.

Their latent hostility also surfaced when army factions began making extortionist demands directly on the population.

The following month he led a revolt that defeated an opposing army faction and became army commander in chief.

Various army factions contended for power amid increasing suppression of dissent and more assassinations.

Crushing taxes on the rural population, mixed with the effort to escape the warring army factions and barbarians, contributed to anarchy.

Lesotho's government has been battling a series of crises and was rocked in January and April by fighting between rival army factions.