The revelation comes a week after fighting in Kor-Jali near Magnenis between the two rival groups left at least 43 fighters and four Sudanese herders killed.

Over the weekend, the SPM-IO in Juba said it was ready to dialogue with their breakaway faction should they opt to cease hostilities.

According to Michael Makuei, the government is willing to mediate the two rival groups through the president.

Makuei however, says they have not received any official and tangible communications from the IO leadership requesting for their intervention.

“My message to both sides is that they put down their guns and talk is the only way forward. We have been advising them all this time to sit down and talk,” Makuei told Eye Radio.

“The government will be even ready to mediate if they accept. We have not received any real tangible response from the two parties so that we can meditate.

“Fighting is not a solution, the only solution comes through peace talks and I am advising them to put down their guns and sit on the table.”

Earlier last week, a Cabinet Minister from the Upper Nile region asked the Presidency to prioritize discussions related to Magenis clashes, saying the ongoing military confrontations will jeopardize the peace agreement.

David Nyang said that the country cannot afford to go back to civil war after bloody past civil conflicts that devastated the country.

The revitalized peace deal signed in 2018 remains the only hope to durable peace in South Sudan, following years of violence that killed tens of thousands and displaced millions both internally and externally.