The United Nations Security Council has called on South Sudan’s neighbors to help end renewed fighting between government forces and former rebels in the country. In a closed-door meeting on Sunday, the council also demanded that both sides of the conflict “do their utmost to control their respective forces, urgently end the fighting and prevent the spread of violence, and genuinely commit themselves to the full and immediate implementation of the peace agreement,” reached in August 2015.

The 15-member council further asked for additional peacekeepers in the African country. Earlier, a UN mission spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were around 50 to 60 casualties in Sunday’s clashes in the capital Juba as former rebels and government soldiers exchanged fire in several parts of the capital. The violence forced thousands of people to flee the city.

This comes after more than 300 people, including many civilians and a Chinese peacekeeper, lost their lives during heavy gun battle in Juba on Thursday and Friday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he was “shocked and appalled” by the fighting between the Juba government troops and rebels, urging both sides to halt the violence.

Presstv