Aid workers kidnapped in famine-hit South Sudan

Aid workers employed by a US-based Christian charity have been abducted in famine-hit South Sudan and negotiations were ongoing for their release.

The local aid workers were taken from a village near Mayendit in Unity state, where a famine has been declared, 680km northeast of the capital, Juba.

The circumstances of the kidnappings was unclear.

"The rebels attacked and abducted eight local staff from Samaritan's Purse and they are being held to ransom," Brigadier-General Lul Ruai Koang told Reuters news agency.

However, the rebels dismissed as "propaganda" the military's claim of a kidnapping, The Associated Press reported.