South Sudan hospital hit by government air strike, MSF says

Medical NGO says targeted attacks have forced the closure of hospitals, while UN says 280,000 displaced in Jonglei state.Published On 5 Feb 2026Medical humanitarian NGO, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says one of its hospitals in South Sudan was hit by a government air strike, amid renewed fighting between soldiers and a coalition of opposition forces in opposition-held areas.The night attack on the hospital in Lankien, Jonglei state, on Tuesday, marks the 10th attack in 12 months on an MSF-run medical facility in the country.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Hunger crisis deepens in South Sudan amid conflict, floods, monitor sayslist 2 of 3UN extends peacekeeping mission in disputed Abyei region for another yearlist 3 of 3Nearly two-thirds of South Sudanese children in child labour: Reportend of listIt came after the South Sudanese government in December imposed restrictions on humanitarian access in opposition-held areas of Jonglei, restricting MSF’s ability to deliver essential medical assistance there.The hospital was “evacuated and patients were discharged hours before the attack” after it received information about a possible strike against the city, MSF said in a statement.But “one MSF staff member suffered minor injuries,” it added.“The hospital’s main warehouse was destroyed during the attack, and we lost most of our critical supplies for providing medical care,” said the statement.In a separate incident, MSF said its health facility in Pieri, also in Jonglei, had been looted on Tuesday by unknown assailants, making it “unusable for the local community”.“Our colleagues from Lankien and Pieri had to flee with the community, and their fate and whereabouts are still unknown, as we are trying to establish communication with them,” the organisation said.Gul Badshah, MSF’s operations manager in South Sudan, stressed that the charity had “shared the GPS coordinates of all our facilities with the government and other parties to the conflict before, and we received the confirmation that they are aware of our locations”.