[JURIST] The United Nations Security Council [official website] on Friday extended [text] the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) [official website] by two months until December 15, 2015. The UN Security Council voted 13-0 to adopt resolution 2241 [UN press release], with two of the fifteen countries abstaining from the vote. Resolution 2241 extends the UNMISS mandate to consolidate peace and security in South Sudan, and to help establish conditions for development in the country. The mandate emphasizes that individuals or entities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan could be designated for targeted sanctions, pursuant to resolution 2206 [text] adopted in March 2015.

Violence and national conflict persists in South Sudan following the start South Sudanese Civil War [JURIST backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] in 2013. In August, South Sudan government troops reportedly attacked a village in the country’s Unity state [JURIST report] despite a ceasefire that was set to begin the same day. A few days prior, a panel of UN experts told the Security Council that there has been increased hostility and violence [JURIST report] in South Sudan since the adoption of resolution 2206 in March. Earlier in August, The president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir [BBC profile], failed to sign a proposed peace agreement [JURIST report] between the government and rebel forces meant to end the country’s ongoing civil war. The ongoing South Sudanese conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of lives lost and more than two million displaced. In July, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs urged [JURIST report] those involved on all sides of the South Sudan conflict to end their fighting and make peace in the interest of protecting innocent civilians.