UN hopes to reinforce mission in South Sudan

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said today he would urge the Security Council to boost the number of personnel serving in the UN mission in South Sudan.
Hoping to beef up the mission's protection, the UN secretary general called for "additional troops, police and logistical assets," although he did not specify numbers.
The mission is capped at 7,000 soldiers and 900 police, and includes 2,000 civilians. The Security Council must be in agreement before the cap can be raised.
Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies are facing a "massive increase in need," the UN's humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Toby Lanzer said today.

He called on donors "to make resources available" so that UN agencies and NGOs can bring in personnel and supplies after more than a week of intense fighting.
"We are looking at a massive increase in need and I am engaging all parties to ensure that civilians are protected and that aid workers are able to access people who need our help," Lanzer said.

"The situation is particularly bad in Jonglei and Unity states, where fighting has displaced thousands of civilians," said Lanzer, just back from the UN base in Bor where 17,000 civilians have taken refuge.
In South Sudan's capital Juba the United Nations and ai agencies are helping 20,000 refugees in two camps and have distributed food to 7,000 refugees seeking shelter at a UN base in Bentiu.

Rebel forces under former vice president Riek Machar have taken control of Bor and Bentiu and the remaining South Sudanese army loyal to President Salva Kiir is readying an assault.