DAVID GREENE, HOST:
South Sudan in Central Africa is heading into month six of a deadly civil war. And yesterday, the U.N. Security Council voted to change its role there, from nation-building to civilian protection. Thousands of civilians have been killed, and over 1.3 million people have been displaced from their homes by ethnic fighting between supporters of the South Sudanese president and his former vice president. The U.N. has 9,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan that currently sheltering some 80,000 refugees at their bases. The new mandate allows peacekeepers to use all necessary means to protect civilians. A recent U.N. report accused both sides in the conflict of carrying out atrocities on a massive scale.
You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.