U.N. urged to consider drones, gunships for South Sudan mission


United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) Special Representative to Secretary General (SRSG) Hilde Johnson addresses a news conference in Kenya's capital Nairobi March 6, 2012. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations should consider deploying surveillance drones and helicopter gunships in South Sudan because peacekeepers are struggling to protect civilians from violence and rights abuses, the U.N. special envoy to South Sudan said on Monday.

Hilde Johnson told the U.N. Security Council that after a U.N. civilian helicopter was shot down in December, new safety procedures and a lack of military helicopters - the peacekeepers have only three - had slowed the mission's ability to respond.

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