JUBA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said on Tuesday that it welcomes the decision by Sudan to extend the humanitarian aid corridor deal until July 2018 which will help to ease continued supply of relief aid to thousands of displaced people in the war-torn country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Mawien Makol told Xinhua in Juba that the deal which was inked in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Monday between the two countries will help ease the hardship in the war-torn country resulting from the more than three years of ongoing conflict.
"It has been extended for one more year until 2018. We welcome it because it is important for our country at this particular moment due to the ongoing hardship," Makol said.
The humanitarian corridor deal initially signed in 2014 following the outbreak of the December 2013 violence in South Sudan was witnessed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
The three partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the agreement that aims to deliver 90,000 metric tons of aid, to the northern Upper Nile and Unity states.
"We are still improving our relations and what is not yet done we shall finish it," Makol added.
South Sudan and Sudan have been having unresolved ongoing differences over border demarcation along their common border and holding referendum for the contested oil-rich Abyei region.
South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar led to fighting that pitted mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.
The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital forcing Machar to flee into exile.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions that have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
