Prisoners of feuding youth in Jonglei State for almost five months, an elated Dole Koroko and her two-year-old son recently stepped off an UNMISS helicopter to freedom in Pibor.

Abducted in January by Lou Nuer armed youth who attacked the Murle village of Lukongole, Ms. Koroko and her boy were rescued by Sudan People's Liberation Army soldiers in Uror County during civilian disarmament in May.

"I would like to thank those who rescued me alive," she said. "I was thinking day and night about my village and parents ... and almost lost hope of seeing (them)."

Ms. Koroko recovered from what she called her "traumatic" captivity at a centre run by the Ministry of Social Welfare in the state capital Bor, before returning home to Pibor County on 12 July.

She and her son join 14 women and 24 children of the Murle tribe who have been recovered from Lou Nuer territory after being abducted during ethnic attacks over the past several months, said Garang David, a Child Protection Officer at the Jonglei Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.

In addition, four women and eight children from the Lou Nuer community have been rescued from the Murle area, he added. The majority of recovered children are from Uror County (Lou Nuer), with one from Pochalla (Anyuak) and two from Central and Eastern Equatoria states.

All rescued individuals have reunited with their families in close collaboration with UNMISS, UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations.

Mr. David noted that no men had been found as captives in either tribal area. "This indicated that abductors always targeted women and children for unknown reasons."

The rescue of Ms. Koroko and her son would help bolster peace efforts in the state, according to Ader Akoy Yuol, Deputy Director for Child Affairs at the State Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.

"This is ... one step forward in the confidence-building process among different tribes of Jonglei," Mr. Yuol said. "We hope it will make an important contribution towards ... (ending) the practices of abductions in the state."

Accompanying Ms. Koroko from the plane, Pibor County Commissioner Joshua Konyi Irer vowed that he would recover all abducted women and children in the state, and work for Jonglei stability by discouraging tribal fighting.

"I went to Pertet and Gomruok payams to implement the peace bill that we have signed here in Jonglei State and to mobilize people to control ... the practices of cattle raiding and abductions," the commissioner said.

Jonglei Governor Koul Manyang Juuk said Pibor Administrator Peter Lebelek, Commissioner Irer and several chiefs would travel with children recovered in Murle territory and hand them over to their families to show the Lou Nuer they were committed to peace and reconciliation.

"This is a ... step in the right direction," Governor Juuk said.

The governor had traveled to Pibor County to assess implementation of a resolution reached at the May "All Jonglei Peace Conference" in Bor.

He said local authorities had formed committees at payam (district) and boma (town area) levels tasked with implementing peace agreements signed in Bor by all paramount chiefs of Jonglei.

"I feel encouraged by the level of commitment and determination of the people of Pibor County for peace and disarmament that I witnessed in the area," the governor said.