ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani engineer, who was among four people abducted in South Sudan, has been released, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said on Thursday.

26-year-old Ayaz Jamali is a resident of Badin in Sindh. Zakaria tweeted: “Our Missions in Addis Ababa and Khartoum have been making efforts to secure Mr Ayaz’s release with coop of Govts of S. Sudan, China & Sudan”

He also said, “We are grateful to the Govts of South Sudan China & Sudan for their cooperation and support in the successful release of Mr Ayaz 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.

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.