Armed youth from Jonglei State announced that they have withdrawn from Boma State after an appeal by the country’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai to give peace a chance.

The first vice president, who visited Bor and Pibor towns last week, was tasked to find amicable solutions to the ongoing conflict between the two states.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Ayuel Guet, spokesman of Bor youth, said they had withdrawn from Boma. However, he insisted that peace will prevail between the two communities unless their abducted children and stolen cattle are returned.

“Yesterday, we have withdrawn our youth from Boma State and now we are at the border within Jonglei state,” said Guet.

But the Murle youth leader Nyang Korok denied the claim, saying Dinka Bor youth are still controlling Kotchar and Nanam areas in Boma State until Monday evening.

Korok reiterated their readiness to negotiate if the Dinka Bor youth left their territory. “These people (Dinka Bor) have not gone away. As we speak, they are still occupying our land until Monday evening, we received information that they are still in Kotchar and Nanam,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government committee headed by South Sudan’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, announced that the two communities agreed to negotiate and sign a peace deal within seven days in Juba.

The peace committee said the two communities also agreed to create a buffer zone along the common borders of the two states to avoid further tension.