One Year After Old Fangak Hospital Bombing, No Accountability as MSF Warns of Healthcare Collapse in Jonglei

(Photo Credit: Alfadil Attiya / File)

By: Alfadil Attiya Abuanja

Médecins Sans Frontières has warned that healthcare services in parts of Jonglei State are on the brink of collapse, one year after the bombing of its hospital in Old Fangak, with no accountability yet established for the attack.

The medical charity said the 3 May 2025 bombing of its hospital in Old Fangak, allegedly carried out by government forces, marked a dangerous escalation in attacks on healthcare facilities in South Sudan’s conflict-affected regions. MSF stated that the hospital was clearly marked as a medical facility and that its GPS coordinates had been shared with the authorities before the strike.

A drone strike later hit a nearby market, killing at least seven people and injuring 27 others, including four MSF staff members. The hospital has remained closed since the attack, leaving thousands without access to critical medical services.

MSF says the incident forms part of a wider pattern of violence targeting healthcare workers, patients, and medical infrastructure across opposition-controlled areas in Jonglei State.

Today, only two hospitals remain operational in the conflict-affected parts of Jonglei, both run by MSF and serving a population of more than one million people.

“The bombings of Old Fangak and Lankien by South Sudanese government forces cannot go unanswered,” said Isabelle Defourny. She called on South Sudanese authorities to publicly explain the attacks and commit to protecting hospitals, patients, and medical personnel.

“Attacks on healthcare are violations of international humanitarian law. They must stop,” Defourny added.

Fighting has intensified since January 2025 between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and allied Ugandan People’s Defence Forces against opposition groups, including the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition, National Salvation Front, and the Nuer White Army.

According to MSF, aerial bombardments have sharply increased during the conflict. The organization recorded 138 airstrikes in 2025, compared to only two in 2024. Between January and March 2026 alone, at least 18 additional airstrikes were documented, most of them in Jonglei State.

MSF noted that only the SSPDF and UPDF possess the operational capacity to conduct such aerial attacks.

Between January 2025 and April 2026, MSF documented 12 separate incidents affecting its staff and facilities in opposition-held areas. These included the bombings of Old Fangak and Lankien hospitals, as well as looting and destruction of medical facilities in Ulang, Pieri, and Akobo.

Several MSF-supported operations were forced to shut down, with only limited services recently resuming in Pieri.

The humanitarian consequences have been severe. MSF estimates that more than 400,000 people lost access to healthcare services in 2025 alone. In the first quarter of 2026, another 366,000 people were left without medical care following renewed violence, attacks, and looting.

The organization also warned that there is currently no surgical capacity available in the affected areas of Jonglei State.

In Akobo County, authorities reportedly issued a 72-hour evacuation order on 6 March 2026 ahead of a military offensive targeting opposition-held areas. Shortly after residents fled, the local hospital was looted, leaving the town nearly deserted.

“Elderly people and people with disabilities were left behind. People were killed; they died from hunger and lack of water. All the water systems had been destroyed,” an MSF staff member in Akobo recounted in April.

MSF currently operates only two hospitals providing secondary healthcare services in Chuil and Paguir. Medical teams are reportedly overwhelmed, often treating patients outdoors because of limited infrastructure while outreach teams struggle to reach displaced communities sheltering in remote and overcrowded areas.

The organization has called on all parties to the conflict to immediately halt attacks on medical facilities and ensure the protection of healthcare services, stressing that no military objective can justify targeting hospitals or medical personnel.

“Those responsible must be held accountable,” Defourny said. “Without accountability, impunity prevails.”