The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to send a 4,200-strong Ethiopian peacekeeping force to the disputed Sudanese territory of Abyei. The force will monitor the withdrawal of Sudanese troops from Abyei, as well as human rights in the region. Northern forces occupied Abyei in May, heightening tensions ahead of South Sudan's declaration of independence on 9 July. More than 100,000 people have since fled the territory. 'Unauthorised elements' The resolution establishes a new UN peacekeeping force, called the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, or UNISFA. It comes a week after the authorities in Khartoum and Juba signed a deal in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to demilitarise Abyei and let Ethiopian troops monitor the peace. Sudan's ambassador to the UN, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, said Khartoum's forces would withdraw as soon as the Ethiopian troops had been deployed. French UN ambassador, Gerard Araud, called the force's mandate "robust" . The resolution also orders UNISFA to protect civilians and to "protect the Abyei area from incursions by unauthorised elements". With fighting affecting the neighbouring state of South Kordofan, the conflict in Abyei has heightened tensions ahead of the north and south of the country splitting next month. Source: BBC