UN chief calls for arms embargo, sanctions on South Sudan

File Photo: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks during a ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the United Nations headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York, January 27, 2016. (Source: Reuters/Carlo Allegri/file)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council on Monday to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, sanction leaders and commanders who are blocking the implementation of a peace deal and fortify a UN peacekeeping mission.

“We desperately need attack helicopters and other material to fulfill our mandate to protect civilians,” Ban said. “I also urge all countries contributing to (the UN mission) UNMISS to stand their ground. Any withdrawals would send precisely the wrong signal, in South Sudan and across the world.”