The Nyiel clan chief in Joda area, Upper Nile State, has confirmed the release of two farmers who were believed to have been kidnapped last August by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). He disclosed, however, that an investigation proved the abductors belonged to another tribe and not to the SAF.

Clan Chief Kur Ajak said the farmers, identified as Bol Malual and Wuliny Deng Aliny, were released at the Jebelain locality in exchange for a man captured last August by the SPLA called Ahmed Ismail Ahmed.

South Sudan security forces had claimed that Ismail had entered the country wearing a military uniform “belonging to a militia supported by Sudanese government.”

Ajak commended the role played by the civil administration and Farmers Union in Renk County, Sennar state, and White Nile state to release the kidnapped farmers.