Their task was daunting. Upon first inspection of what was left of one of the tarmacs at the Malakal airport, the gallant Indian peacekeepers serving the United Nations Mission in South Sudan were met by huge cracks.

Dark rain clouds hang over a seven-acre field of crop and green houses, located in an area in Bor, where South Korean peacekeepers serving the United Nations Mission in South Sudan have turned fallow land into a productive farm.

Abandoned shops line the streets of once bustling towns across Ayaci and Magwi County near Torit in the eastern part of South Sudan.