ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />The U.N. Security Council approved plans on Tuesday to almost double the number of peacekeepers in South Sudan in a bid to protect civilians from violence as the discovery of a mass grave fueled fears of ethnic bloodletting in the world's newest state.<br/> <br />The 15-member council unanimously authorized a plan by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's to boost the strength of the force in South Sudan to 12,500 troops and 1,323 police, as some 45,000 civilians seek protection at U.N. bases.<br/> <br />Violence erupted in the capital Juba on Dec. 15 and quickly spread, dividing the land-locked country along ethnic lines of Nuer and Dinka.<br/> <br />South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 under a peace agreement to end decades of war in what was Africa's biggest state.
