United Nations Mission in South Sudan The United Nations Mission in South Sudan ( UNMISS ) is the newest United Nations peacekeeping mission for the recently independent Republic of South Sudan , which became independent on 9 July 2011 . UNMISS was established on 8 July 2011 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1996 ( 2011 ) . UNMISS is headed by Special Representative of the Secretary - General Hilde Frafjord Johnson . It is composed of 5 , 884 civilian , 5 , 508 military and 376 police personnel and is headquartered in the South Sudan capital Juba . Mandate . The stated UNMISS Mandate includes : The mission was established by Security Council Resolution 1996 and extended to 15 July 2013 by Resolution 2057 . As per Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter , the peacekeeping mission is concerned with the protection of civilians , and thus is not mandated to engage in protection of South Sudan ' s territory or the sovereignty of that territory ( cf . the 2012 South Sudan – Sudan border war ) . Progress . In a July 2012 speech , a day after the extension of the mission , Hilde F . Johnson spoke in Juba about the progress of UNMISS . Johnson discussed the mission ' s protection of civilians and the documenting and verification of incidents . Johnson discussed the January 2012 Lou Nuer attacks in Jonglei State whereby the actions of UNMISS in deploying peacekeepers and alerting the South Sudanese government resulted in " thousands of civilian lives [ being ] saved " , as well as progress in areas such as policing , justice and democracy . Incidents . 2012 . On 21 December 2012 , a civilian UNMISS helicopter was shot down over Jonglei State . Five people , including four Russian crewmembers , on board of the aircraft were killed . 2013 . On 9 April , five Indian UNMISS troops and seven civilian UN employees ( two UN staff and five contractors ) were killed in a rebel ambush in Jonglei while escorting a UN convoy between Pibor and Bor . Nine further UN employees , both military and civilian , were wounded and some remain missing . Four of the civilians killed were Kenyan contractors working to drill water boreholes . One of the dead soldiers was a lieutenant - colonel and one of the wounded was a captain . According to South Sudan ' s military spokesman , the convoy was attacked by David Yau Yau ' s rebel forces that they believe are supported by the Sudanese government . UNMISS said that 200 armed men were involved in the attack and that their convoy was escorted by 32 Indian UN peacekeepers . The attackers were equipped with rocket propelled grenades . A UN spokesman said that the fierce resistance put up by Indian peacekeepers forced the rebels to withdraw and saved the lives of many of the civilians . UN Secretary - General Ban Ki Moon called the killings a war crime , and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice . India ' s Prime Minister , Manmohan Singh , paid his tribute to the " brave soldiers " . About 2 , 200 Indian Army personnel are deployed in South Sudan as a part of the UNMISS mission . United Nations Assistant Secretary General Tony Banbury has praised the bravery of Indian soldiers killed while fighting rebels in South Sudan earlier this month . The soldiers were part of a UN peacekeeping mission . " The morale of the Indian soldiers is very high . I was able to visit the affected contingent today and met the Commanding Officer . He told us that the morale of the soldiers was very high . These soldiers fought valiantly in the face of this unprovoked ambush , they were dramatically outnumbered . . . about 200 attackers to 35 soldiers and they fought very greatly . All the soldiers fought back , " Mr Banbury told . " The killings would have been much worse had it not been for the bravery of these soldiers . I think they ought to feel very proud of what they have done even though they are all devastated by the loss of the five UN peacekeepers , " he added .