Armed opposition claims that a large contingent of government troops have defected and joined them in Mayom county of South Sudan’s Unity state. The claim has been denied by the state government.

James Yoach, spokesperson for the opposition, told Radio Tamazuj, that “300 government soldiers led by Second Lt. Gai Kongim have joined the opposition forces”.

He accused the government of failing to implement and designate the cantonment areas for the forces.

Lam Tungwar, Minister of Information for Northern Liech state denied the defection and downplayed the news.

“This is baseless and unrealistic. In fact the Governor of Northern Liech state is in Mayom at the moment. No one defected to the SPLA. This is a lie,” said Tungwar.