An unknown number of humanitarian workers are missing after air strikes hit a hospital in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, close to the border with Ethiopia, according to a medical charity.
Doctors Without Borders said its hospital in the Lankien area was struck overnight on Tuesday in an air attack carried out by South Sudanese government forces. The government has not yet commented on the allegation.
In a separate incident on the same day, the charity said one of its health facilities in Pieri, also in Jonglei, was looted by unidentified attackers, leaving the site unusable for the local population.
“Our colleagues were forced to flee alongside the community, and their whereabouts and fate remain unknown,” the organisation said.
Jonglei state has recently seen renewed fighting between government troops and forces loyal to First Vice-President Riek Machar, who was suspended after being accused of plotting to overthrow President Salva Kiir. The escalation has raised fears of a return to full-scale civil war in the world’s youngest nation.
The UN estimates that since December, around 280,000 people have been displaced in Jonglei due to fighting and aerial bombardments. The region is among the most food-insecure areas in the country and faces severe shortages of health services.
The medical charity said it had received advance warnings of a possible strike on Lankien, allowing the hospital to be evacuated and patients discharged hours before the attack. One staff member was injured, and the hospital’s main warehouse was destroyed along with vital medical supplies.
Lankien has been a focal point of clashes in recent weeks. The charity said the destruction of its warehouse has severely limited its ability to provide care.
While responsibility for the attack has not been independently verified, the organisation said government forces are the only armed group in the country with the capacity to carry out air strikes.
The charity is the sole healthcare provider for an estimated 250,000 people in Lankien and Pieri, warning that continued attacks on its facilities could leave entire communities without access to medical care.
The organisation said it faced eight targeted attacks on its facilities in South Sudan last year, forcing the closure of two hospitals and the suspension of services in several regions. In December, authorities imposed restrictions on humanitarian access in opposition-held areas of Jonglei, further limiting the delivery of aid.
South Sudan has been unstable since fighting first broke out between forces aligned with Kiir and Machar in 2013, two years after independence. Although a 2018 peace deal formally ended the civil war, which killed nearly 400,000 people, key provisions have not been fully implemented. Machar is currently facing charges including murder, treason and crimes against humanity, which he denies.