Airstrike hits MSF clinic in Jonglei, bullets found in compound

BOR – A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) health facility in Pieri, Jonglei State, was struck during an airstrike on December 3, leaving bullets embedded in the compound’s structures and raising fresh alarm over escalating attacks on medical services in South Sudan, the organization said on Thursday.

MSF said the Pieri facility came under fire as a gunship helicopter hovered overhead. When the aircraft left the area, staff inspecting the site found bullet impacts in the buildings, confirming the facility had been directly hit.

No casualties were reported, but the incident has intensified concerns among aid agencies working in conflict-affected parts of Jonglei and Upper Nile, where insecurity has repeatedly disrupted humanitarian operations this year.

MSF said its teams also witnessed additional airstrikes in Lankien, around 60 kilometres from Pieri. The organisation runs a major hospital in Lankien, one of the few secondary-level health facilities serving the wider region.

The hospital was not damaged, but the proximity of the strikes has heightened fears for staff and patients.

The charity said all its personnel in both locations were safe and that no civilian injuries linked to the airstrikes had been confirmed.

It warned, however, that communities in Pieri and Lankien rely almost entirely on MSF to provide basic and emergency care, and any disruption to its activities could put thousands at risk.

This week’s airstrike adds to what MSF described as a growing pattern of violence affecting health services nationwide.

Earlier this year, MSF closed its hospitals in Old Fangak and Ulang following security incidents in May and June, and suspended general healthcare operations in parts of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria as conflict made it unsafe for staff to continue working.

“The recent airstrike shows a deeply concerning pattern in which healthcare facilities are repeatedly hit or come under fire during persistent attacks,” said Emmerson Gono, MSF Deputy Head of Mission in South Sudan.

“We call for the immediate protection of medical infrastructure, staff and patients in South Sudan.”

MSF, one of the largest medical humanitarian organisations operating in the country, said it continues to respond to growing health needs driven by conflict, displacement, flooding and disease outbreaks.

It warned that these challenges are being compounded by declining international funding and a fragile national health system struggling to cope with rising demand.