The Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the U.N. peacekeeping force in the disputed Abyei region on the Sudan-South Sudan border for the last time unless both countries demonstrate "measurable progress" on marking their border.

 

A resolution adopted by the U.N.'s most powerful body on Thursday sets out seven specific measures that Sudan and South Sudan must take in the next six months for the force to remain, at a reduced level of just under 4,000 troops.

The 2005 peace deal that led to South Sudan's independence required both sides to work out the final status of oil-rich Abyei, but it is still unresolved.

The measures the council spelled out that Sudan and South Sudan must take include complete withdrawal by both countries from the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone.