South Sudan’s government and its neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have agreed to maintain security along the common border, officials said.
This comes after the Congolese defense minister Chrispin Atama Tabe met President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Juba on Monday.
Addressing the press after the meeting, South Sudan’s defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk said the two leaders discussed border security and the exchange of military expertise between the two countries.
Kuol further said border security concerns include securing the borders against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and South Sudan rebels.
For his part, the Congolese official also assured his government’s commitment to maintaining border security with South Sudan. He thanked the South Sudanese government for the talks.
In July last year, Congo hosted SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar and hundreds of his troops after fleeing violence that erupted in Juba. Machar was then airlifted to Khartoum by the United Nations for medical attention.