LESOTHO’S warring political parties have agreed to form a unity government, potentially ending a bloody conflict that has lasted more than a year.

Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s Democratic Congress and former prime minister Tom Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) agreed to form a “grand coalition,” the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Thursday.

Under the deal, Mr Mosisili’s deputy Monyane Moleleki will become prime minister and Mr Thabane will be his deputy — paving the way for his return from South Africa, which surrounds the mountain kingdom
He fled there in August 2014, fearing assassination at the hands of Lesotho’s military.