JUBA, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The UN peacekeeping chief on Thursday lauded efforts by the regional bloc, the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to revive South Sudan's stalled peace agreement and find a political solution to the conflict.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operation, said that the IGAD initiative to revitalize the 2015 pact offers hope towards peaceful resolution of the South Sudan conflict, adding that the UN would support the East African countries in their search for lasting political solution in the war-torn country.
"It is a very important and positive thing that the countries in the region are being more engaged in helping South Sudan return to peace," Lacroix told journalists at the conclusion of his three-day visit to South Sudan
"The UN welcomes and supports this new engagement by IGAD and we look forward to that process moving forward," he added.
Lacroix condemned escalation of violence across South Sudan, including deadly road ambushes on civilians that have killed dozens of people in the past months, calling on the warring parties to stop targeting civilians and end hostilities immediately.
"The continuation of fighting is an obstacle to further progress in the political track and it's also a matter of concern because this fighting obviously has a very serious impact on the population and on our effort to bring humanitarian assistance to the population. So we call on all parties to stop the fighting and to make all efforts so that we have cessation of hostilities," he said.
The envoy further called on the government and other countries tasked with contributing the much-awaited Regional Protection (RPF) to expedite the deployment of the force to help in restoring security in the capital and other parts of South Sudan.
He said the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan would consider using UN blue helmets in major roads and high risk areas to deter violence against civilians.
In August 2016, the UN Security Council approved the deployment of 4,000-strong RPF to secure Juba and protect key installations following renewed clashes in July 2016. The additional force with stronger a mandate will back up the existing 13,000 UNMISS troops in the war-torn East African country
"With the deployment of RPF and those capacities that are currently deployed in Juba, we may be able to use them to help secure these areas and roads so that we minimize the risk of these incidents (road ambushes) and increase the level of security,
South Sudan has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has have taken a devastating toll on the people of South Sudan.
The peace pact signed in Addis Ababa in 2015 under intense international pressure was shattered again following renewed violence between rival government and opposition troops in the capital Juba in July 2016.
The conflict has since spread to other regions which enjoyed relative peace, causing mass displacement of least 3.5 million people from their homes, ethnic polarization and tribal violence that has killed tens of thousands of people.
