24 December 2013 - In the face of rapidly deteriorating security and a humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the Security Council today authorized almost doubling the UNMISS force to about 14,000.

As requested by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Council unanimously approved a temporary increase in the mission’s strength of up to 12,500 military and 1,323 police from a current combined strength of some 7,000.

The force will be increased by transferring units if necessary from other UN forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Darfur, Abyei, Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia to assist with the crisis, which has left hundreds of civilians dead and tens of thousands driven from their homes.

In a resolution passed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which authorizes the use of force, the 15-member Council demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities and opening of dialogue between rival factions.

The Council also condemned the fighting and violence targeted against civilians and specific ethnic and other communities as well as attacks and threats against UNMISS.

Tensions within South Sudan burst into conflict on 15 December when President Salva Kiir's government said soldiers loyal to former deputy president Riek Machar, dismissed in July, had allegedly launched an attempted coup.

Mr. Kiir belongs to the Dinka ethnic group and Mr. Machar to the Lou Nuer.

Last week, 2,000 heavily armed assailants stormed an UNMISS base in Akobo in Jonglei state, in an attack that left several civilians dead as well as two UN peacekeepers, with a third wounded, which today’s resolution condemned in the strongest terms.

“I have consistently called on President Salva Kiir and opposition political leaders to come to the table and find a political way out of this crisis,” Mr. Ban told the Council at its meeting, citing reports of ethnically targeted violence, other extra-judicial killings and mass graves. “Whatever the differences, nothing can justify the violence that has engulfed their young nation.”

He stressed that there could be no military solution to the conflict, reiterating his determination to ensure that UNMISS has the means to carry out its central task of protecting civilians.

“Attacks on civilians and the UN peacekeepers must cease immediately,” he said. “The United Nations will investigate reports of these incidents and of grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity. Those responsible will be held personally accountable. They should know the world is watching."

Both in his address to the Council and at a later news conference Mr. Ban warned that even with ongoing support, the strengthening of UNMISS’s protective capabilities would not happen overnight.

“And even with additional capabilities, we will not be able to protect every civilian in need in South Sudan,” he said. “The parties are responsible for ending the conflict. This is a political crisis which requires a peaceful, political solution.”

At a news conference today in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, Mr. Ban’s Special representative to the country Hilde F. Johnson pledged that the UN would continue to support South Sudan’s people. She hoped that extra military assets, including helicopters, would soon arrive to increase UNMISS capabilities.

“I want to make it very clear that, although non-critical staff of the United Nations have relocated to Entebbe in Uganda, we are also increasing our staff in critical security related areas and we are reinforcing the bases that need reinforcement,” Ms. Johnson said.

She said UNMISS was providing, as part of its protection-of-civilians mandate, shelter to approximately 45,000 people who had fled to UN compounds.

“We remain, we are undeterred and we will continue to implement our mandate. Now, the presence of the United Nations in South Sudan is greater than ever,” she said.