South Sudan: Dozens of MSF staff remain missing amid escalating violence in Jonglei
Attacks have caused entire communities to flee into remote areas, including many MSF staff members and their families.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of our staff from Lankien and Pieri in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, following an escalation of violence that has caused many people to flee.
On Feb. 3, the MSF hospital in Lankien was hit in an airstrike by the government of South Sudan’s forces, and later burned and looted. That same day, MSF’s health facility in Pieri was looted by unknown assailants. MSF had already evacuated the Lankien hospital due to reports of a possible attack, and staff members from Lankien and Pieri fled with members of the community.
MSF has sought to confirm the whereabouts and safety of all of our staff, but 26 of 291 of our colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for. We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity.
Staff members with whom we have reestablished contact describe destruction, violence and extreme hardships.
“I ran for my safety once I heard the shooting,” says an MSF nurse from Lankien. “I am separated totally from my family, my wife and my children. I do not know where they are. I do not know if they are still alive or not… I am totally distressed, because I do not know where my kids are.”
The nurse, who remains anonymous, had already followed instructions to evacuate amid rising tensions and warnings of a possible attack on Lankien. As the bombardment intensified, his house was burned and his belongings looted. He fled into the forest on Feb. 4, carrying only a small bag containing fortified peanut paste, biscuits and his documents. He walked for five days through remote areas, avoiding armed men, before reaching safety.
“Medical workers must never be targets. We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve.”
Yashovardhan, country director in South Sudan
Communication networks are extremely limited in remote areas where people have fled and MSF’s loss of contact with 26 staff members may be linked to the absence of connectivity. We are also seriously concerned some of our colleagues may be facing other very difficult conditions that prevent them from communicating with us.
Many were forced to flee the violence alongside their families and are sheltering in remote areas with little access to food, water or basic services.
Because this crisis has directly affected the very health workers who were providing care to their communities, MSF has been forced to suspend medical activities for approximately 250,000 people across the two locations.
“This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on healthcare services but on the very people who kept them running,” says Yashovardhan, MSF country director in South Sudan. “Medical workers must never be targets. We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve. Where security conditions allow, we have initiated emergency support in areas where people have sought refuge. We are also taking steps to support our staff during this period.”
MSF is making every possible effort to reestablish contact with our missing colleagues and to support all affected staff and their families. The safety and security of our teams remain our highest priority.
Since the beginning of 2025, MSF has documented a sharp increase in attacks on healthcare facilities in South Sudan. By February 2026, MSF had recorded 10 targeted attacks on our hospitals or staff.
MSF reiterates that medical facilities, patients and healthcare workers must be protected at all times. Attacks on healthcare are unacceptable and deprive underserved communities in vulnerable situations of essential medical care.
