South Sudanese rebels loyal to former first vice president Riek Machar said on Thursday they plan to withdraw from their battle positions near an orphanage just outside the town of Torit in Imatong state.

The United Nations warned that about 250 children and their caretakers in an orphanage have been besieged as government and opposition troops take up battle positions in the vicinity.

Opposition spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon that their troops stationed near the orphanage in Moti village had decided to pull out from their defensive positions.

“After I received the information yesterday, I managed to talk to our field commanders at Gong Hill, so within a week our forces will withdraw from the area,” he said.

Lul Ruai Koang, SPLA's military spokesperson, said their field commanders could not immediately be reached due to poor mobile networks in the area.