The U.S.-based aid group World Vision says eight local staffers and a Ugandan who were abducted earlier this week in civil war-torn South Sudan have been released.

They were seized Monday while driving in a convoy outside the Equatorian town of Yambio.

The statement Friday says the United Nations and local authorities led negotiations for their release. 

Neither South Sudan’s government nor opposition has taken responsibility for the abduction. Each often blames the other in such circumstances.

This is the third abduction of humanitarian workers in two months in South Sudan. Seventeen aid workers were kidnapped by armed groups in two separate incidents last month.

The release comes as a new round of peace talks on the conflict is under way in neighboring Ethiopia. 
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