Over 1,000 soldiers of the SPLA-IO faction have defected to the government controlled area in Wau, in support of the First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, a government official said.

Wau’s Information Minister David John claimed in an interview with Radio Tamazuj yesterday that the advance of team of the defectors arrived in Wau town under the command of Colonel Santino Majok.

He pointed out that the government will open a cantonment site for them, saying those forces came to Wau in response to President Kiir’s call for peace and stability.

For his part, SPLA-IO military spokesman in Western Bahr el Ghazal Nichola Gabriel Adam denied the defection of opposition forces, saying those who joined Taban Deng in Wau were local farmers.