ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia sent 200 peacekeepers over the weekend to South Sudan to help stabilize the war-torn east African nation, an Ethiopian official said on Tuesday.
Meles Alem, spokesperson for the Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua that the peacekeepers were sent in line with a United Nations resolution to stabilize South Sudan.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2327 on Dec. 16, 2016, which called for an increase in the overall force levels of United Nations Mission in South Sudan to 17,000 military and 2,101 police personnel.
The resolution also extended the UNMISS mission until December 2017 and gave stronger mandate to the peacekeeping mission to protect civilians.
Africa's youngest nation South Sudan has been embroiled in a major conflict since December 2013, after clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy, Riek Machar, spiraled into an all-out civil war.
Several rounds of peace negotiations mediated by the African Union, the regional body Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the UN have so far failed to stop the bloodshed.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war. Four million others have been displaced internally and fled to foreign countries.
