Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Wednesday that an airstrike by South Sudanese government forces (SSPDF) hit its hospital in Lankien, Nyirol County, Jonglei state, wounding one staff member and destroying vital medical supplies.
The bombardment occurred late on Tuesday, February 3, MSF said in a statement, adding that the hospital’s main warehouse was destroyed, leaving the facility without most of its critical medical stock.
In a separate incident earlier the same day, MSF said its health facility in Pieri Payam, Uror County, also in Jonglei, was looted by unidentified assailants, rendering it unusable.
MSF said its staff in both Lankien and Pieri fled alongside local communities following the incidents, and that their whereabouts remain unknown due to a lack of communication.
The Lankien hospital had been evacuated and patients discharged hours before the strike after MSF received information indicating a possible attack, the organisation said.
“MSF shared the GPS coordinates of all our facilities with the government and other parties to the conflict and received confirmation that they were aware of our locations,” said Gul Badshah, MSF’s operations manager.
“The South Sudanese armed forces are the only armed actor with the capacity to carry out aerial attacks in the country,” he added.
MSF said it was the sole provider of healthcare for an estimated 250,000 people in Lankien and Pieri, warning that the attacks would leave communities without access to medical services.
SSPDF Spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang could not immediately be reached for comment.
The incidents come amid restrictions imposed by the government since December on humanitarian access in parts of opposition-held areas of Jonglei, which MSF said have hampered the delivery of medical aid, particularly for children, pregnant women and patients with chronic illnesses.
MSF said it faced eight targeted attacks in South Sudan in 2025, forcing the closure of two hospitals in the Greater Upper Nile region and the suspension of general healthcare services in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states.
In May 2025, an MSF-run health facility was bombed by airstrikes carried out by the South Sudanese army in Old Fangak, Jonglei state, destroying a pharmacy.
Fighting has intensified in northern Jonglei state in recent days between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO).
The SSPDF said on Tuesday it had captured several areas from opposition forces, including Pieri, though the SPLA-IO could not immediately be reached for comment.