South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar has left the country for a neighbouring state, opposition officials said on Thursday, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital Juba during fierce fighting with government troops, according to France 24.

Spokesman James Gatdet Dak declined to say which country Machar was in. A statement issued by the leadership of the SPLA In Opposition (SPLA-IO) said he had left on Wednesday to a "safe country within the region".

Since the July fighting, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and appointed Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar, as vice president.

Source: MENA