An armed group led by Col. James Deng Mayar announced on Sunday they had split from the SPLM-IO led by the first vice president Riek Machar.
The group said they have joined General Agany Ayie and have rejected the peace agreement signed by the government and armed opposition in August last year.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj by phone from Northern Bahr el Ghazal, James said he and a group of people from greater Bahr el Ghazal announced their split.
“We have split with a big number of soldiers around 100 soldiers and joined General Agany Ayei,” said Mayar. “When we rebelled and joined Riek we were calling for changing Kiir government.”
He said they had split because Machar did not fulfill his commitment to change the government of Kiir and accepted the position of the first vice president. He also said they want the chief of general staff removed.
Mayar said they reject the transitional government of national unity formed recently.