Rebels abduct Pakistani engineer in South Sudan

A Pakistani engineer is among four people abducted in South Sudan by a rebel group.

According to the relatives, 26-year-old Ayaz Jamali —who works for Eastern Nile State — is a resident of Badin in Sindh province.

His relatives have demanded the government to take swift action to save the life of Jamali.

Oil-rich South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, has been mired in civil war since President Salva Kiir sacked Riek Machar in 2013.

According to United Nations, fighting has forced three million people to flee their homes, split much of the population along ethnic lines and paralysed agriculture, leaving the country facing famine.

Oil-rich South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, has been mired in civil war since President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, sacked his deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer, in 2013.

The fighting has forced 3 million people to flee their homes, split much of the country along ethnic lines and paralyzed agriculture, prompting the U.N. to declare last month that parts of the country are suffering from famine.

Citizens of the cash-strapped country have also been hit by hyperinflation that topped 800 percent last year. The government's efforts to rebuild the shattered economy have been hampered by rebel attacks on oil facilities.

Two Indian employees of the Ministry of Petroleum were kidnapped on March 8 in northeast Maiwut state, and Minister of Petroleum Ezekiel Lol Gatluak, blaming the rebels, said: "We are working to make sure that they are unconditionally released."