South Sudan: Crisis Intensifies, UN Sends Reinforcements
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The ongoing crisis in the world's newest country intensified over the Christmas holiday as the United Nations scrambled to send peacekeeping reinforcements to the young African country.
According to Reuters, anti-government forces in South Sudan seized oil wells and "captured half of the capital of the main oil producing region." The South Sudanese government has expressed concerns that the rebels, led by former VP Riek Machar, might damage the oil wells.
Machar's forces have been fighting against the South Sudanese government, led by President Salva Kiir, since a failed coup d'etat on December 14th. The two sides have so far not agreed to negotiations or a ceasefire, despite efforts by the presidents of Kenya and Ethiopia to encourage dialogue and an end to the violence.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has been scrambling to send peacekeeping reinforcements to the African country. The UN Security Council agreed Wednesday to "nearly double" the size of the current peacekeeping (PKO) mission, dubbed UNMISS, to 12,500 soldiers and 1,300 police officers.
PKO forces are expected to arrive within the next two days, a UN representative told The Australian. UN special representative Hilde Johnson told reporters that the UN is "working around the clock to get assets."
"All peacekeepers are under instruction to use force when civilians are under imminent threat," Johnson said. 
UN peacekeepers at a refugee camp/via UNMISS
Tens of thousands of civilians have sought UN protection from the conflict, with the UN putting the current estimated civilian death toll "in the thousands."
South Sudan's conflict is stemming from an ethnic conflict between the Dinka tribe and Nuer clansmen, of which Salva Kiir and Riek Machar are respective members.
The conflict threatens to unravel the young central African state. South Sudan is currently the youngest recognized country in the world, becoming an independent state from Sudan on July 9, 2011 following a referendum.
South Sudan became a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the set of international treaties which outline standards for the humanitarian treatment of war, in July 2012.
Read more about the crisis in South Sudan at BBC News and Reuters.
Reach Executive Producer Colin Hale here. Follow him on Twitter.
