The Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLM-N) says they hold the South Sudanese government fully responsible for the death of a senior commander who died in jail in the South Sudan capital Juba.

In a press statement seen by Radio Tamazuj, the SPLM-N spokesman at the Addis Ababa peace talks Mubarak Ardol said that al-Hindi Ahmed Khalifa died while he was detained in a prison in Juba.

Ardol said their delegation gave Khalifa’s sister a detailed report on the findings of the official investigation carried out by the SPLA-N. He added Khalifa and his comrades were illegally arrested by South Sudanese security agents.

“So as a result, Brig. Gen. al-Hindi Khalifa died of illness in jail and among his fellow detainees,” reads the statement.

Khalifa’s family had demanded a thorough investigation into his death.

Ardol said the SPLA-N’s chairman Malik Agar, secretary general Yasser Arman, besides other leading rebel figures confirmed what happened to Khalifa in Juba.

The Sudanese rebel group stressed that they will present a petition to Juba over the death of their senior officer.

South Sudan's government military SPLA denied knowledge about the circumstances surrounding the general's death.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, SPLA spokesperson Col. Philip Aguer said: “We have no information about what is being said, and we don’t have any problem with the SPLM-N rebels."