More than two dozen aid workers from Doctors Without Borders remain missing a month after two of the organisation’s facilities were attacked in South Sudan, deepening fears for the safety of humanitarian staff caught in escalating violence.
The assaults took place on February 3 in Jonglei State, northeast of Juba, where renewed conflict has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December. MSF said government forces bombed its hospital in Lankien, while “unknown assailants” raided another medical facility in Pieri both located in opposition‑held territory.
As fighting intensified, staff fled alongside thousands of residents into remote rural areas where clashes and aerial bombardments continued. In a statement released Monday, MSF confirmed that 26 of the 291 staff members working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for, saying it has “lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity.”
The organisation noted that limited network coverage in the region has made communication nearly impossible. Those who have managed to make contact described scenes of “destruction, violence and extreme hardships.”
The conflict surged in December when opposition forces seized several government outposts in north‑central Jonglei. A government counteroffensive in January recaptured most of the territory, but civilians fleeing the violence reported harrowing conditions including days‑long treks without food or water and accounts of brutal attacks by government fighters.
Aid groups warn that the assaults on MSF facilities in Lankien and Pieri reflect a broader rise in violence targeting humanitarian workers, supplies and infrastructure. MSF says its facilities have been attacked 10 times in the past year, severely undermining lifesaving services.
“This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on health care services, but on the very people who kept them running,” said Yashovardhan, MSF’s head of mission 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.”
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