Families of the soldiers who deserted their base at Mapel military training center have been relocated to the UN protection site in Wau town.

An official from the state said the families were relocated to the UN camp over concerns for their security.

There was tension in Wau over the weekend about 200 soldiers reportedly deserted their base in Mapel.

The SPLA spokesperson, Colonel Philip Aguer, said that the soldiers fled out of fear, after the killings of 5 of their colleagues in the area on Friday.

Col Aguer said widows of soldiers who were killed in Upper Nile state recently, vested their anger on soldiers from a certain community, saying they are from the group that killed their husbands.

The state Minister of Information, Derik Uya told Eye Radio today that they responded by moving the families of the soldiers who deserted Mapel center to the UN base in Wau, as a precautionary measure.

“These families came to us and the state government requested United Nations Mission in South Sudan to protect them at their base,” he said.

“But Wau is calm; there is nothing bad.”

The army has appealed to the soldiers who escaped from Mapel to report themselves to the divisional headquarters or to the nearest office of UNMISS in Wau for protection.