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The UN Security Council on Friday extended its peacekeeping force in Abyei for a year, but divided over whether the mission's future should depend on political progress by Sudan and South Sudan.
Abyei is a disputed territory on the border between the two countries, claimed by both. Resolution 2838 extends the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, known as UNISFA, and its support for the border monitoring mechanism, until 15 November 2027, according to the UN's account of the meeting. It passed by 13 votes to none; China and Russia abstained. The account below relies on the UN’s official meeting coverage; descriptions of the disputed conditions are attributed to the delegates who gave them.
The UN’s account says the resolution also calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into a drone attack on UNISFA personnel in the Sudanese town of Kadugli on 13 December 2025. It asks all parties to cooperate with the findings of the Abyei joint investigation into the killing of a UN peacekeeper and the Ngok Dinka Paramount Chief.
The split concerned what the United States called benchmarks. Its representative said the resolution builds on benchmarks set last year that tie the mission's future to measurable progress by Sudan and South Sudan. He listed what the parties must do: hold regular negotiations on Abyei's final status, establish a police service, and withdraw armed forces; South Sudan from southern Abyei and the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group fighting Sudan's army, from the area entirely. France also backed the approach, crediting last year's benchmarks with helping preserve gains.
African members opposed linking the mission’s future to political benchmarks. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking also for Liberia and Somalia, said a peacekeeping operation's future cannot be subordinated to political progress that is largely beyond the mission's control, and warned this could jeopardise civilian protection. China said it abstained over the linkage. Russia said it abstained because the draft built on last year's text, which was not unanimously supported; it welcomed the last-minute removal of what it called unrealistic timelines, but said a rigid link between the mission's continuation and the benchmarks remained. Pakistan voted in favour but warned that conditions should not jeopardise the mission's presence.
South Sudan welcomed the adoption but said that, as host country, it had not been formally consulted on the drafting and that some of its concerns were not adequately reflected. "Adding and expanding benchmarks in itself cannot guarantee progress," its representative said.