{"id":44335,"date":"2026-05-01T15:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=44335"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:39:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:39:06","slug":"msf-closes-lankien-hospital-after-bombardment-and-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/msf-closes-lankien-hospital-after-bombardment-and-destruction\/","title":{"rendered":"MSF closes Lankien Hospital after bombardment and destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The international medical humanitarian organisation M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) has announced the permanent closure of its hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State.<\/p>\n

This followed a devastating aerial bombardment and subsequent looting that left the facility destroyed.<\/p>\n

According to an official statement by MSF, the hospital, which is one of the few advanced healthcare facilities in the region, was struck on February 3rd, 2026, when a bomb was dropped from an aircraft onto a warehouse within the hospital compound.<\/p>\n

The statement added that the explosion destroyed critical medical supplies and forced the immediate suspension of all medical services.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough MSF has not officially confirmed responsibility for the airstrike, the organisation noted that government forces are believed to be the only actors in the conflict with the capacity to carry out aerial bombardments. At the time of the incident, government troops were reportedly in control of Lankien,\u201d the statement partly read.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the attack, the hospital compound was looted, parts of it were burned, and the remaining structures were vandalised.<\/p>\n

MSF said that it is still unable to confirm which parties were responsible for the looting and destruction that followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are outraged by what we witnessed; the level of destruction is beyond anything we could imagine. Vehicles were riddled with bullet holes, medical buildings burned, and even pediatric equipment was deliberately destroyed,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

According to the report, the hospital had been evacuated hours before the bombardment due to rising tensions in the area, allowing patients and staff to escape without reported casualties.<\/p>\n

However, the attack triggered widespread panic, forcing many residents to flee Lankien, including after reported bombardments of the town\u2019s market on the same day.<\/p>\n

MSF described the incident as part of a growing pattern of violence against healthcare facilities in South Sudan. Since early 2025, at least 12 attacks and violent incidents have affected MSF staff and operations.<\/p>\n

The closure of Lankien Hospital marks the fourth MSF-supported facility to shut down in recent months, following similar closures in Ulang, Old Fangak, and Akobo.<\/p>\n

MSF underscored that the shutdown leaves an estimated 250,000 people without access to essential medical services, raising fears of increased preventable deaths in an already vulnerable region.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttacks on medical facilities, healthcare workers, and civilians are unacceptable and must stop,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

It called on all parties to the conflict, including government forces, opposition groups, and other armed actors, to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians and healthcare infrastructure.<\/p>\n

MSF has also urged the South Sudanese government to launch an independent and transparent investigation into the attack and to take concrete measures to safeguard humanitarian operations across the country.<\/p>\n

The Lankien hospital had been operational since 1995, initially established to combat kala-azar, a neglected tropical disease. Over three decades, it evolved into a critical lifeline for communities across Jonglei State.<\/p>\n

Its closure now marks the end of 31 years of continuous humanitarian medical support in the area, leaving thousands without care and highlighting the deepening crisis facing healthcare in conflict-affected regions of South Sudan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco The international medical humanitarian organisation M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) has announced the permanent closure of its hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State. This followed a devastating aerial bombardment and subsequent looting that left the facility destroyed. According to an official statement by MSF, the hospital, which is one[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Damage-of-the-healthcare-facility-in-Lankien-Jonglei-state-Courtesy-photo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44354,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44335\/revisions\/44354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}