UN Security Council extends peacekeeping mission in Darfur

The United Nations Security Council has decided to extend the mandate of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) till June 30 next year.

This follows a recent unanimous vote that saw the 15-member Council adopt a resolution, under which it decided to extend the mandates of the UN mission.

According to the resolution, the situation in Sudan constitutes a threat to international peace and security, hence extension of the mandate.

Sudan on the other hand expressed stiff opposition insisting that unrest in Darfur had ended and that the April referendum had turned a page on the conflict.

The Darfur region has been gripped by bloodshed since 2003 when rebels took up arms against Sudan’s government in the capital Khartoum, accusing it of discrimination and neglect, a charge the government denies.

The UN. Security Council is extending its peacekeeping mission in Darfur for a year. The Sudanese war has been going on since 2003. #WCCB

— Terrance Bates (@tbates97) June 30, 2016

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma are also reported to have made recommendations for the extension.

The peace keeping mission was first deployed in Darfur in 2007, a compromise between Western calls for a fully-fledged UN peacekeeping mission and Khartoum’s insistence on an African solution.

Apart from Darfur, the MINUSMA mission in Mali has also been extended for another year.

About 18,000 troops and police from more than 30 countries will continue to deploy as part of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur, a region the size of France where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed since 2003.