The UN Security Council on Friday extended by one year the arms embargo and individual sanctions imposed on South Sudan, where recent violent clashes have raised the specter of a new civil war.

The world's newest state - which only gained independence from Sudan in 2011 - was plunged into a civil war between 2013 and 2018 that left around 400,000 dead and four million displaced.

A 2018 power-sharing agreement between the warring parties had allowed for a precarious calm.

But for several months, clashes have pitted President Salva Kiir's faction against supporters of his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, who was put under house arrest in March.

Abstained from vote

Juba had opposed the arms embargo and six member states abstained from the vote, meaning it passed with nine votes in favor, the minimum to be adopted.

It extends the embargo until May 31, 2026.

In the resolution, the Council expressed "concern over the continued intensification of violence" and underscored the need for the two sides to "avoid a relapse into widespread conflict."

The embargo "remains necessary to stem the unfettered flow of weapons into a region that remains awash with guns," deputy US ambassador John Kelley said.

Cost on citizens

UN arms embargoes are increasingly being challenged, particularly by African countries, often backed by Russia - which, like Juba, called for the restrictions on South Sudan to be lifted.

Deputy Russian ambassador Anna Evstigneeva, who abstained from the vote, said the sanctions are "putting a brake on a successful political process unfolding in South Sudan."

South Sudanese ambassador Cecilia Adeng said the lifting of the sanctions and the embargo are "not only a matter of national security and sovereignty, but also a matter of economic opportunity and dignity."

"The cost of sanctions is being borne, not only by the government, but ordinary citizens," she said.