UNMISS peacekeepers announced today that they are reinforcing their presence in South Sudan with more police, military, and logistics support.

“Reinforcements will be prioritised to the areas affected by the current fighting. This is critical to enable the Mission to deliver on its mandate to protect civilians,” reads a press statement.

“More resources will particularly be allocated to Bor, Malakal, Bentiu and Juba,” it adds.

Some reinforcements have already arrived, and additional aircraft and police from Nepal will arrive in the coming week, and later also troop reinforcements.

UNMISS' civilian staff has actually been scaled down, however, owing to the evacuation of many personnel to Juba. Selected civilian staff still remain in the country.

“The Mission continues to monitor the situation on the ground. Currently, the situation is fluid, in particular in the area south of Bor, where fighting has continued,” UNMISS stated.

Photo: 39 soldiers from the UNMISS Mongolian Batallion arriving to reinforce a base in Bentiu, 30 December 2013 (UNMISS/Anna Adhikari)