Cables From The Diplomatic Frontlines - Sudan crisis and realpolitik interests at play.

Background

• Clashes between Sudan's military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have erupted across the country due to a conflict between two key players in the nation's politics.

• There are now 400 people dead, thousands wounded, tens of thousands displaced, and an important bio lab was captured by the fighters of RSF.

• The stakes of the current conflict are becoming very high - but how did it all start?

• What is the near-term chain of events that led to this outbreak of violence?