Bombing and looting force MSF hospital to close in South Sudan

Attacks in February put hospital out of service

MSF was forced to stop all medical activities in Lankien on February 3, after a bomb was dropped from a plane on a warehouse inside the hospital compound. It destroyed medical and other critical supplies. Although we are unable to confirm which party to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan is responsible, it appears that government forces are the only party with the capacity for aerial bombing.

In the days following the airstrike, government forces were known to be in control of the Lankien area. The Lankien hospital was looted, parts of it burned, and the remaining structures vandalized, leaving nothing but devastation. MSF is not yet able to confirm which party to the conflict is responsible for the looting and vandalism.

“We are outraged with what we recently witnessed at the hospital,” said Gul Badshah, MSF operations manager. “The level of destruction is beyond anything we could imagine. We saw bullet holes in the windshields of our vehicles, our medical supply buildings burnt to the ground, while even pediatric equipment was targeted and destroyed.”

Hours before the attack on February 3, Lankien hospital was evacuated and patients were discharged, following increased tensions in the area. People reportedly fled Lankien after the bombardment of the hospital and the town’s market that day.

Lankien hospital attack is part of a disturbing pattern

The destruction of our hospital in Lankien is not an isolated incident, but part of a wider and deeply worrying trend of violence against health care in South Sudan. Since the start of 2025, MSF facilities and staff have been affected by at least 12 attacks and violent events. These repeated incidents have forced the closure of four hospitals — Ulang, Old Fangak, Akobo, and now Lankien — and left hundreds of thousands of people without access to medical care. As usual, it is people who are paying a heavy price for attacks on health care.

“Attacks on medical facilities, health care workers, and civilians are unacceptable and must stop,” said Badshah. “Government and opposition forces, as well as all other armed groups, must take full responsibility for their actions. They must also prevent attacks on medical personnel and facilities and on civilians, and respect international humanitarian law and its principles, including distinction and proportionality.”

MSF calls on the South Sudanese authorities to provide transparent explanations, ensure accountability, and take concrete measures to protect health care and humanitarian operations.

MSF operations in South Sudan

MSF had worked in Lankien since 1995, initially responding to kala azar, a neglected tropical disease. Over the years, our activities gradually expanded, and the hospital became the only advanced-level health care facility in the region, serving an estimated 250,000 people who have now been left without access to medical services.

MSF has been present in what is today South Sudan since 1983 and remains one of the largest medical humanitarian actors in the country, operating in seven states and two administrative areas. In 2025, MSF provided more than 830,000 outpatient consultations, inpatient care for over 93,000 patients, including 12,000 surgeries, and regularly referred patients across the country for critical medical care.