SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - UN puts brakes on peacekeepers’ pullout from Sudan’s Darfur

28/6/19: AP - UN puts brakes on peacekeepers’ pullout from Sudan’s Darfur, Edith M. Lederer

 AP reports that the UN Security Council voted unanimously to put the brakes on the withdrawal of the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region as the country deals with a political crisis.

 The council approved a resolution to extend the current mandate of the force, known as UNAMID, for four months until October 31.

 Last July, the Security Council voted to dramatically cut the UNAMID force in response to reduced fighting and improved security conditions. The target for ending the mission is June 30, 2020.

 Britain’s U.N. deputy ambassador Jonathan Allen, whose country co-sponsored the resolution with Germany, said the council “recognizes that Darfur is affected by wider instability in Sudan and that there is a need for continued protection of civilians in Darfur.”