K. Denk’s mother killed alongside SSPDF general in Nasir

JUBA – South Sudanese music star Koang Deng Kun Kong, known as K. Denk, revealed that his mother was among those killed in an attack on a UN helicopter on Friday, March 7, which also claimed the life of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) Maj. Gen. David Majur Dak during a failed evacuation attempt.

In an emotional post on social media seen by Sudans Post, K. Denk said his mother, Nyadak Lul Kuoth Deng, had been stationed in Nasir as part of the SSPDF’s efforts to maintain security in the restive town prior to the outbreak of violence last week.

He said his mother, a major by rank, was among the soldiers the UN was attempting to evacuate from Nasir when she was killed along with Gen. Dak and dozens of other soldiers in the clashes .

“Today, my heart is heavy with grief. My mother, a soldier, a mother, and a daughter of Nasir, was taken from this world in the most painful way—killed by her own clan. She was loyal to the struggle, a commitment she carried since the day my father, Deng Kun Kong, fell on the frontlines in March 1992 as an SPLA soldier,” K. Denk, who is based in Canada, said in a statement shared on March 8.

K. Denk explained that his mother became a soldier in 1992 after the death of his father, Deng Kun Kong, during the liberation war between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), led by the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior, and successive Sudanese regimes in Khartoum.

According to K. Denk, his mother was from Nasir County in Upper Nile State, which borders Ethiopia.

“She picked up his (her late husband’s) gun and continued the fight under John Garang, standing firm in her duty until the very end,” he said.

“Even after Garang’s passing, she remained faithful to the SPLA orders, under President Kiir, believing in the cause she had dedicated her life to. But in the end, on March 7th, 2025, she was caught in the painful realities of war, captured by the White Armies, along with her commander Gen. Majur Dak, where loyalty and duty sometimes stand at odds with the suffering of the people,” he added.

K. Denk described his mother not only as a soldier but also as a mother, a wife, and a woman from Nasir who deserved to have been spared.

“I understand the pain that my people in Nasir have endured for years—the weight of military presence, the oppression, and the constant conflict. I understand the circumstances that led to this moment.

“But she was more than a soldier. She was a mother, a wife, and a woman of Nasir. Her life should have been honored, her soul spared,” he said.

The artist expressed hope for lasting peace and justice for those who have perished in the cycle of violence.

“I mourn today, not just for my mother, but for all the lives lost in this endless cycle of violence. My only hope is that one day, we will find a path where our pain does not turn us against one another, where justice and peace will replace bloodshed,” he said.

“Rest in peace, Mama. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he added.

The events in Nasir have sparked concerns about the possibility of a return to civil war. The conflict was officially ended in 2018 with the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCiSS) between President Salva Kiir’s SPLM and the SPLM-IO under First Vice President Riek Machar.

However, the implementation of the agreement has stalled, with key provisions—including the drafting of a new constitution, unification of former warring armies, and the holding of elections—yet to be fully realized.