South Sudan starts establishing cantonment sites for forces

JUBA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said on Thursday it has started setting up cantonment sites to accommodate the unified force of 83,000 personnel recently agreed upon by the warring parties.

Michael Makuei Lueth, minister of information and broadcasting, told Xinhua that various cantonment sites are being set up to accommodate both government troops and members of the armed opposition.

"After establishment of the cantonment sites, the opposition forces will have to move to the sites," Makuei said in Juba. "Then we will be in position to know exactly those who have reported."

"Why we agreed upon the extension is the delay in the establishment of the security arrangement. We are now in the process of establishing cantonment sites, and after the rest of the issues will be simple," he said.

The warring parties agreed on May 3 to extend the pre-transitional period for another six months to address outstanding issues like security arrangements, which include assembling and screening of forces, determining the number of states and demarcation of boundaries.

South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013 and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.

The United Nations estimates that about 4 million South Sudanese were displaced internally and externally.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 collapsed following renewed violence in the capital, Juba, in July 2016.

Under the September 2018 peace agreement, opposition leader Riek Machar, together with four others, will be reinstated as vice president of South Sudan. Enditem