U.S. pushes for extra troop deployment to South Sudan

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has emphasized on the need to deploy extra United Nations troops to South Sudan.

He made the call in Nairobi on Monday after talks with the five foreign ministers of East Africa including Kenya’s Amina Mohamed.

“We need to move forward with the deployment of a regional protection force, authorised by the U.N. Security Council, in order to be part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in that country,” he told the press.

He also called on the South Sudanese leaders to follow the peace deal reached last year.

The Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amina Mohamed agreed to a sooner deployment of the force rather than later while stressing also on gradual deployment.

The UN Security Council agreed on the deployment of a 4000-men force from the region on August 12.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his new vice president Taban Deng had rejected the decision to deploy peacekeepers in the country which they say undermines their sovereignty.