It learned Wednesday that Machar was in Congo, near the South Sudan border, and arranged on humanitarian grounds for the United Nations peacekeeping force there to airlift him, his wife and 10 others, deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
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Duale on Thursday said deploying KDF will see security beefed up in the country as well as deepen regional integration.
South Sudan’s former vice president and opposition leader Riek Machar “is in the care” of the authorities in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations has said, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital Juba during fierce fighting with government troops.
Mr. Machar’s spokesman, James Dak, on Thursday offered no additional information on the alleged assassination attempt.
While the Obama administration spent the initial years of South Sudan’s independence backing the Kiir government, the relationship began to sour when the South Sudanese president sacked his entire Cabinet – including Mr. Machar in 2013.
More than 100,000 fled across the border; the rampaging soldiers are also said to have assaulted and raped women.
An earlier statement from Machar’s SPLM-IO party said the leader had been “evacuated to a safe country within the region” without naming Congo.
Both sides in South Sudan’s conflict have repeatedly promised to address allegations of child recruitment, but they continue such recruitment efforts.
A spokesman for the DRC’s government, Lambert Mende, denied it had been in touch with anyone about helping the former South Sudanese vice president.
“At this precarious stage in South Sudan’s short history, UNICEF fears that a further spike in child recruitment could be imminent”, he added. He was subsequently replaced as vice-president by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally.
Machar, who consented to the operation, is now in the care of Congolese authorities, Haq said, declining to confirm his location.
Garang said rebel factions remained committed to the peace treaty signed with the South Sudan ruling government in August 2015.
Clashes have continued, however, between the forces of President Salva Kiir and rebels.
Kiir’s officials rejected claims that government troops had pursued Machar, saying he should return to Juba peacefully.
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Separately, UNICEF on Friday announced that at least 650 children have joined armed groups in South Sudan this year alone. Reports suggest that more than one in five people from South Sudan’s 11 million people fled their homes because of the ethnic war.
