The United Nations Security Council has approved the deployment of 4,200 peacekeeping troops to Sudan's contested Abyei region.

The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution calling for the troops to be deployed in Abyei for at least six months. Ethiopia has agreed to provide the personnel, following a request from both north and south Sudan.

Northern Sudanese forces occupied the region in May, prompting tens of thousands of residents to flee southward.

The new U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei is to verify and monitor commitments by the north and south to withdraw their forces from the region.

It is also tasked with providing security, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid and protecting the region from what the Security Council calls “unauthorized elements.”

South Sudan is set to declare independence on July 9, but the two sides have not agreed on the future of the Abyei region. The oil-rich and fertile land is located on the north-south border.

Last week, both sides agreed to completely withdraw forces from Abyei and allow U.N. peacekeepers to oversee security.

Fighting in Abyei and another border area, Southern Kordofan, has raised fears of a new Sudanese civil war. A 21-year conflict between the north and south ended in 2005.

South Sudan voted overwhelmingly in a January referendum to split from the north.