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East Africa bloc urges stronger UN mandate after deadly South Sudan clashes

Xinhua, July 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Regional ministers of foreign affairs from the Eastern African region have called for the revision of the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in South Sudan (UNMISS), creating an intervention brigade to arrest the flare-up of fighting in Juba at the end of a meeting in Nairobi Monday.

The ministerial council of the seven-member Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) held an emergency meeting in Nairobi to discuss the flare-up in fighting in South Sudan.

The foreign ministers from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda, met on the first official working day since the outbreak of the fighting in Juba.

The ministers called on the South Sudanese authorities to immediately re-open the Juba International Airport and place the airport under the protection of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The ministers also made a seven-point demand, asking for the revision of the UNMISS mandate to make it an intervention brigade.

Fresh fighting broke out in South Sudanese capital Juba on Monday, two days after the shooting to death of five soldiers.

The ministers called on the UN to increase the number of UNMISS troops drawn from the region in order to secure Juba.

They urged President Kiir the First Vice President Dr. Reik Machar to assume their responsibility and take immediate measures to stop the fighting.

They also emphasized the need for the two leaders to assert command and control over their respective armed forces and passing of continuous messages to the general population for calm and reconciliation. Endit