Meanwhile, SPLM-IO spokesperson Manawa Peter Gatkuoth has welcomed the visit of the delegation of the UN Security Council and the consent of the government to the deployment of regional troops in South Sudan.
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“The force that would have to go in would have to be big enough and strong enough to counter military resistance from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which is no pushover militarily, even if it has outdated fighter jets and equipment”, said Heitman.
“What we need to do now is move from those very important high-level commitments into working up the modalities in an operational way”, Ms Power said.
However, it’s uncertain the additional force will be able to protect the local populations or bring stability to the war-torn country.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power delivered a stern message on arrival, noting recent obstructions of United Nations work.
“The global community is extremely frustrated with the obstruction of United Nations peacekeeping operations that has gone on for too long”, said Power, who, along with Senegal, is co-leading the three-day Security Council visit.
He said the Security Council accepted the request, claiming that neighboring countries have interests in South Sudan and are not neutral.
Protecting civilians has become a critical issue for United Nations peacekeepers following fighting that erupted in Juba in July between forces loyal to Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, threatening to send the world’s youngest country back to all-out civil war. “I think any mother would”.
Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal a year ago, but fighting has persisted and Machar has now fled the country and is in Sudan.
The visiting Security Council diplomats met with civilians who pleaded for the new protection force. The East African regional bloc, IGAD, also called for reinstatement of Machar as the First Vice President upon his return to Juba and once the regional force is deployed in the capital.
“These people here did not come because they were given food and shelter, they are here because they don’t have any alternative”, Peter Wilson of the British delegation told reporters.
The visit comes amid tensions between South Sudan and the worldwide community.
South Sudan Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elias Lomoro read out a joint communique agreed to by the Juba government and the UNSC in the capital, Juba, reported the Tribune.
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JUBA South Sudan (Xinhua) – The UN refugee agency said on Friday that it has officially opened a new camp in South Sudan to provide better protection and services to refugees relocating from Yida settlement and new arrivals from the war-torn Nuba Mountains. More than 300 people were killed in the clashes.
