The United Nations Mission in South Sudan, (UNMISS), will scale down the numbers of peacekeepers in the country following the reduction in conflicts.

The outgoing UNMISS boss David Shearer told the journalists in his last address in Juba on Tuesday, April 6, that the mission had noted calmness in certain parts of the country necessitating phased withdrawal of troops.

“Over the coming year, there will be a reduction of our military and police peacekeepers by around seven per cent,” he said.

According to the UN boss, the troops are set to withdraw from the civilian protection sites that had been facing dangers but are now stable. The mission has 14,500 soldiers and 2,000 police peacekeepers in the country.

The mission announced withdrawals as of last year September from the sites where 180,000 civilians were camping. But the bouts of violence necessitated the delay.

UNMISS was established in South Sudan following civil wars that have led to the deaths of over 400,000 people and displacement of thousands.

The return to normalcy, occasioned by lobbying, saw the fruition of the signing of a peace deal between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr Riek Machar in 2018.