Rebel leader Riek Machar has denied reports that Egyptian troops are fighting in South Sudan.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency from an undisclosed location on Saturday, Machar said that he has not heard about the presence of Egyptian troops in the country.
He also denied that some Egyptian troops had been captured by his forces in the Jonglei state.
Local Sudanese media had reported that Machar's forces had captured 14 Egyptian soldiers and four Ugandan troops fighting alongside President Salva Kiir's forces in Jonglei state.
There was no comment from Egyptian authorities.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when Kiir accused Machar, a former vice president, of leading a failed coup attempt against his regime.
The conflict has already claimed more than 10,000 lives, with the U.N. estimating that some one million South Sudanese have been displaced by the violence.
In January, the two sides signed an IGAD-brokered cessation of hostilities agreement in Addis Ababa.
By Hagar al-Dosoki
englishnews@aa.com.tr
