By William Madouk
President Salva Kiir has confirmed the killing of Maj-Gen Majur Dak alongside 27 other soldiers during an evacuation mission by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan in Nasir.
President Kiir detailed in his state-of-the-nation address how the barracks had been attacked by a paramilitary group, also known as the white army.
“Dr. Riek assured me and the UN representative in the country that the Gen will be safe and that UN rescue mission on date 6, the UN helicopter flew to Nasir but came under fire upon landing,”
“I am therefore informing the nation that in this process we have lost General Majur Dak and all the officers, only one pilot survived and one plane managed to take off, however, it crashed landed in Malakal killing all the passengers that were on board,” he said.
The president stated that his deputy, Dr. Riek Machar attempted to persuade late General Majur to surrender to an SPLA-IO officer, which Majur declined.
“Dr. Riek himself called the commander Gen Majur Dak and told him to surrender to SPLA-IO officers, the Gen refused to surrender,” he revealed
In a separate press release, the UNMISS said its helicopter carrying out an evacuation in Nasir, Upper Nile State, was shot down yesterday, killing one crew member, an SSPDF general and seriously injuring two others.
UN Mission in South Sudan said that several members of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), including an injured General, were killed during the rescue mission, as agreed by all parties.
“The attack on UNMISS personnel is utterly abhorrent and may constitute a war crime under international law. We deeply regret the tragic loss of our colleague and express our sincere condolences to his loved ones,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom.
“We also regret the killing of those that we were attempting to extract, particularly when assurances of safe passage had been received,” he added.
UNMISS urged an investigation to determine those responsible and hold them accountable.
The peacekeeping mission is calling on all actors to refrain from further violence and for the country’s leaders to urgently intervene to resolve tensions through dialogue and ensure that the security situation in Nasir, and more broadly, does not deteriorate.
Hasyom added, “It is vital that parties adhere to their commitment to uphold the ceasefire and protect the integrity of the Revitalized Peace Agreement.”
The evacuation was part of UNMISS’ efforts to help prevent violence in Nasir and de-escalate political tensions, following recent clashes between the SSPDF and armed youth which caused significant casualties and civilian displacement.
On Thursday, SSPDF General Majur Dak’s evacuation from Nasir failed for the second day in a row, despite the UN airlifting some of his forces to Malakal.
Maj-Gen Majur was scheduled to be picked up on the second journey after the first batch of trapped soldiers was evacuated from Nasir, which is now controlled by the SPLM-IO-affiliated White Army militia.
Gen Majur, who commanded SSPDF forces in Nasir, evacuated his troops to an old army barracks on the outskirts of town after their camp was taken on Tuesday.
Negotiations between SPLM-IO officials, county authorities, and SSPDF headquarters resulted in an arrangement that allowed the general and his remaining soldiers to be evacuated to Malakal.
On Wednesday, a UN helicopter attempted to evacuate but was forced to abort the mission due to unexpected gunfire from the militia.
On Tuesday, the first successful evacuation flight flew 10 SSPDF soldiers to Malakal.
However, unsubstantiated reports claim that Gen Majur refused to depart, requesting that all of his surviving troops be flown before he did.