UK pledges 100 non-combat troops for UN South Sudan mission

Britain will provide 100 more troops to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan to help set up a field hospital, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced Thursday.

"We've announced an additional 100 troops in addition to the 300 previously pledged to South Sudan to establish a hospital," Fallon said following a London UN peacekeeping conference.

"This large-scale deployment underlines how we are stepping up our global commitments," said Fallon.

"Backed by a rising defence budget, it's part of our effort to tackle the instability that leads to mass migration and terrorism.

"It will help keep Britain safe while improving lives abroad," he added.

The first deployment of British personnel arrived in South Sudan in June, with the majority of troops expected to arrive in 2017.

The UN Security Council last month urged South Sudan's neighbours to help end renewed fighting in the capital Juba, asking for additional peacekeepers.

It demanded that President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar "do their utmost to control their respective forces, urgently end the fighting and prevent the spread of violence".

The battles are the first between the army and ex-rebels since rebel leader Machar returned to take up the post of vice president in a unity government in April, under an accord to end a bloody civil war.

Representatives from around 70 countries attended Thursday's meeting.

Britain co-hosted the event with Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uruguay, the United States and the UN.