A Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Lankien, Jonglei state, South Sudan, was hit in an airstrike by the government of South Sudan’s forces during the night of Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
One MSF staff member suffered minor injuries. The hospital’s main warehouse was destroyed during the attack, and we lost most of our critical supplies for providing medical care. In a separate incident that same afternoon, MSF’s health facility in Pieri, also located in Jonglei, was looted by unknown assailants. Our colleagues from Lankien and Pieri had to flee with the community, and their fate and whereabouts are still unknown as we try to establish communication with them.
This attack follows months of humanitarian restrictions
Since December 2025, the government of South Sudan has imposed restrictions exclusively on opposition-held areas in Jonglei state, including Lankien, Pieri, and Akobo. This means that all humanitarian flights are suspended, making it difficult or impossible to distribute medical and other critical supplies and personnel where needed. Following the restrictions, MSF has been forced to evacuate some staff from Lankien and Akobo, and limit medical services in these facilities and those in Pieri to emergency and lifesaving care only.
Lankien hospital was evacuated and patients were discharged hours before the February 3 attack, following increased tensions and after MSF received information about a possible attack on the city.
“MSF shared the GPS coordinates of all our facilities with the government and other parties to the conflict before, and we received confirmation that they are aware of our locations,” said Gul Badshah, MSF operations manager.
The looting of MSF’s health care center in Pieri hours before the bombardment also made it unusable.
An entire community may be left without health care
MSF was the only health provider serving about 250,000 people in Lankien and Pieri. Attacks against MSF facilities in these locations mean that local communities will be left without any health care.
"Given the current context, we will make the necessary decisions to protect the safety of our staff and health care facilities in South Sudan,” said Badshah. “While we are aware of the enormous needs in the country, we find it unacceptable to be a target for attacks. MSF has been present for 43 years in what is today South Sudan, and we have treated millions of patients during this period, in different states and regions of the country."
This bombardment followed the restrictions on humanitarian access that the government of South Sudan has imposed exclusively in parts of opposition-held areas of Jonglei state, since December. These restrictions limit MSF’s ability to deliver essential medical assistance to communities, which can have particularly dangerous consequences for children, pregnant women, and people living with chronic or life-threatening conditions.
In 2025, MSF experienced eight targeted attacks, forcing the closure of two hospitals in Greater Upper Nile and the suspension of general health care activities in Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Central Equatoria.
MSF in South Sudan
MSF has been present in what is today South Sudan since 1983 and remains one of the largest medical humanitarian organisations in the country. We operate in seven states and two administrative areas. In 2025, MSF provided more than 830,000 outpatient consultations and inpatient care for over 93,000 patients, including 12,000 surgeries. We also screened 107,000 children for malnutrition and performed critical referrals across the country.
