At least seven people have been killed and 20 others injured following a devastating aerial assault on a hospital and market in Old Fangak, Jonglei State, South Sudan, according to international medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The organization condemned the attack as a grave breach of international humanitarian law and warned of worsening violence that could push the nation back into full-scale civil war.
MSF reported that helicopter gunships dropped a bomb directly on the pharmacy section of the only functioning hospital in Fangak County serving over 110,000 residents, before strafing the surrounding area for 30 minutes. Shortly afterward, a drone reportedly struck a nearby local market, adding to the civilian toll. Photographs shared by MSF show parts of the hospital engulfed in flames, with all critical medical supplies destroyed.
MSF’s Emergency Coordinator, Mamman Mustapha, told the BBC that while the facts are still being confirmed, local witnesses indicated the aircraft were government military helicopters. “The hospital is clearly marked with our MSF logo, and GPS coordinates have been shared with all parties in the conflict,” he said, emphasizing that the attack appeared deliberate.
South Sudanese authorities have not yet issued a formal statement, and the BBC has reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
The bombing comes amid rising fears that South Sudan, already fragile from years of conflict, is sliding back into civil war. UN Mission Chief Nicholas Haysom recently warned that the country is “teetering on the brink of a return to full-scale civil war,” citing escalating violence and political instability between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar.
Just hours before the attack on the hospital, the South Sudanese army chief, Paul Majok Nang, vowed retaliatory action against what he described as militias linked to Machar following the hijacking of military barges on the Nile River. Machar, who was arrested in March along with his aides and accused of inciting rebellion, has yet to respond publicly to the claims.
The South Sudanese government has recently labeled several counties as “hostile,” suggesting alignment with Machar’s forces. This move has raised alarms about a potential resurgence of ethnically charged violence between the Dinka and Nuer—the country’s two largest ethnic groups and historical rivals in past conflicts.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but descended into a brutal civil war just two years later, largely sparked by President Kiir’s dismissal of Machar as vice-president. The war, fought along ethnic lines, claimed an estimated 400,000 lives and displaced more than 2.5 million people. Though a peace agreement was signed in 2018 and a unity government formed, progress has stalled. National elections remain unheld, militias have not been disbanded, and efforts to integrate them into a unified national army have failed.
Earlier this year, renewed clashes erupted when the White Army militia, formerly aligned with Machar during the civil war, overran a government base in Upper Nile State. In March, a UN helicopter evacuating troops came under fire, resulting in several deaths, including that of a senior South Sudanese army general.
Human rights organizations are now urging the international community to pressure South Sudan’s government and military to halt attacks on civilian infrastructure and prioritize dialogue. The attack on Old Fangak’s hospital an essential lifeline for thousands is seen as a stark violation of international norms and a chilling signal of what may lie ahead if peace efforts collapse entirely.
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