The non-governmental organization (NGO) Nonviolent Peaceforce said its four colleagues who went missing last month following fighting in Unity state have been found alive.

Four staff members - Mary, Rebecca, Michael, and Duop - fled clashes in Koch county in late May and lost contact with the Nonviolent Peaceforce office.

"We are enormously relieved and grateful to be able to share that we are now in contact with all four of the our colleagues in South Sudan who have been unaccounted these last weeks," read a statement posted on Nonviolent Peaceforce's website on Wednesday.

"They are for the moment safe and we are in regular contact with them and are making every effort to support them. The team in South Sudan would like to thank everyone who has shared their concern and kindness with us. It means so much to all of us to know that we are not alone in this struggle."

The four staff members served as protection officers in Koch helping keep civilians safe from violence.

Courtesy photo: Duop walking in Unity State

Related:

NGO: 'Our colleagues are missing' (30 May)