South Sudan: Bombing, looting force MSF hospital to close after 31 years
The closure of Lankien hospital will harm people who already have limited access to healthcare.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to permanently close our hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State, South Sudan, after it was bombarded on Feb. 3.
This closure brings to an end 31 years of continuous medical support to the community of Lankien, which already had extremely limited access to healthcare. Before its destruction, around 250,000 people relied on the hospital for essential care. Communities in the region are now left without medical services and exposed to preventable deaths.
“The level of destruction is beyond anything we could imagine. We saw bullet holes in the windshields of our vehicles, our medical supply buildings burned to the ground, while even pediatric equipment was targeted and destroyed.”
Gul Badshah, MSF operations manager
MSF calls on all warring parties to prevent attacks on medical facilities and personnel and for an independent and impartial investigation of the attack.
Attacks in February put hospital out of service
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 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 were 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,” says 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 burned to the ground, while even pediatric equipment was targeted and destroyed.”
Hours before the attack on Feb. 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 healthcare 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 healthcare.
“Attacks on medical facilities, healthcare workers and civilians are unacceptable and must stop,” says 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 South Sudanese authorities to provide transparent explanations, ensure accountability and take concrete measures to protect healthcare 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 healthcare 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 organizations 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.
