The government plans to extend the Ground Self-Defense Force's participation in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan by five months through next March, according to a government source.

The decision to extend the SDF deployment period, currently set to end Oct. 31, may be approved by the Cabinet as soon as Oct. 25, the source said Tuesday.

Despite violence in parts of South Sudan, where followers of President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar have clashed in recent months, the government says the situation is relatively calm in the capital Juba, where the SDF personnel are stationed.