South Sudan: Bombing of MSF hospital condemned

At least seven people died and 20 were injured in the attack. Among the injured, one patient and two caregivers—including an MSF staff member—inside the hospital at the time of the bombing. Patients who were not in a critical condition ran from the facility.

“The bombing has resulted in significant damage, including the complete destruction of the pharmacy, which burned to the ground,” reports Mamman Mustapha, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “This is where we stored all our medical supplies for the hospital and our outreach activities, severely compromising our ability to provide care. We strongly condemn this attack, which took place despite the geolocations of all MSF structures, including Old Fangak Hospital, being shared with all parties to the conflict.”

Old Fangak Hospital is the only hospital in the remote Fangak county of Jonglei state, serving a population of more than 110,000 people who already had extremely limited access to healthcare. Many patients travel for days by canoe to reach it, particularly during the wet season when extreme flooding isolates entire communities.

“We are still assessing the full extent of the damage and the impact on our ability to provide care, but this attack clearly means people will now be even further cut off from receiving lifesaving treatment,” says Mustapha. “We call on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure—this includes health workers, patients and health facilities. Hospitals must never be targeted, and the lives of civilians must be protected.”

This is the second time an MSF hospital has been impacted over the past month, following the armed looting of our hospital and premises in Ulang, Upper Nile state on 14 April, which led to the entire population of Ulang county being cut off from accessing specialist healthcare.

MSF has been providing specialist healthcare services in Fangak County since 2014.