UN Security Council renews sanctions on South Sudan

Displaced people receive food parcels at a joint UNICEF-WFP Rapid Response Mission (RRM), which delivers critical supplies and services to those displaced by conflict, in Nyanapol, northern Jonglei, March 3, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Tuesday renewed sanctions on South Sudan for another year to support the implementation of a peace agreement in the country.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-nation council decided to renew the travel bans and asset freezes imposed on individuals obstructing the peace deal and meanwhile extend the mandate of the panel of experts who monitor the sanctions for 13 months.

The council also expressed its grave alarm regarding the conflict between the government of South Sudan and oppositions forces which emanated from internal political disputes.

Fighting erupted in the world's youngest oil-rich nation two years after it gained independence in 2011, when South Sudan President Salva Kiir accused the rebel leader Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

The Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan signed on Aug 17, 2015 ended the 21 month-long civil war which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more.

Late last month, South Sudan formed a Transitional Government of Nations Unity, which the Security Council hailed as an important milestone in implementation of the peace agreement.