310 Kenyan peacekeepers to join UN team in S. Sudan

Soldiers from South Sudan's army patrol the streets of Malakal in the Upper Nile State of South Sudan on December 31, 2013. The United Nations said Tuesday it has sent its first aid convoy from Sudan into South Sudanese territory, with enough supplies to feed 45,000 people for a month. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The date of the Kenyan force’s arrival in South Sudan has not been finalised, Mr Contreras said.
  • Some rebel elements might view the Kenyan force within Unmiss as aligned with the South Sudan government.

NEW YORK/UNITED NATIONS

About 310 Kenyan troops will soon join the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Unmiss), a spokesman for the UN operation said on Friday.

The Kenyans will “help the mission implement its mandate with a special emphasis on the protection of civilians facing a threat of physical violence,” Unmiss spokesman Joseph Contreras told the Sunday Nation.

The date of the Kenyan force’s arrival in South Sudan has not been finalised, Mr Contreras said. But a report to the Security Council by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this week had indicated that the Kenyan deployment would take place in October.

Unmiss has also not yet specified where in South Sudan the Kenyan contingent will be based.

Kenyan soldiers could face mortal dangers in a country where a total of 30 peacekeeping troops and other Unmiss-related personnel have been killed in the past three years. Thousands of South Sudanese civilians have also lost their lives in the civil war that erupted late last year and which continues to claim numerous casualties.

Some rebel elements might view the Kenyan force within Unmiss as aligned with the South Sudan government. Kenya and South Sudan are both members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which has had difficulty in helping negotiate an end to the civil war due, in part, to suspicions among some rebels that Igad favours the South Sudan government side.

The main rebel group led by former South Sudan Vice- President Riek Machar has demanded withdrawal of a military force from Uganda, another Igad member, which has been deployed explicitly in defence of South Sudan’s government.