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South Sudan: 26 MSF medical workers still missing after attacks
More than 26 staff members of the humanitarian organization MSF remain missing a month after attacks targeted two of its medical facilities in South Sudan.
The attacks occurred on 3 February in Jonglei State, northeast of the capital Juba, where violence has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December.
MSF reported that a hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, while another health facility in Pieri was attacked by unknown attackers. Both facilities were located in areas controlled by opposition forces.
Doctors and nurses at the two locations ran away with local residents to remote villages because fighting and air attacks were continuing in the area.
In a released Monday statement, MSF said that 26 out of the 291 staff members who were working in Lankien and Pieri hospital remain missing. The organization said it has lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity in the area.
MSF noted that the communication breakdown may also be linked to limited network connectivity in much of Jonglei State. Staff members who managed to communicate with the organization described widespread destruction, violence and extremely harsh conditions.
Fighting in the region got worse in December after opposition forces captured several government positions in northern and central parts of Jonglei. In January, government forces launched a fight back and regained most of the territory they had lost.
Displaced residents who fled to the town of Akobo, near the border with Ethiopia, reported strong violence carried out by government fighters. Many said they walked for days without access to food or water while trying to reach safer areas.
Humanitarian organizations warn that attacks on aid workers, medical supplies and health facilities have increased in South Sudan. MSF facilities alone have been targeted at least 10 times in the past 12 months.
The head of mission for MSF in South Sudan, Yashovardhan, said the violence is having very harmful consequences on health services and the people who operate them.
“Medical workers must never be targets,” he said, expressing deep concern about the fate of the missing staff members and the communities the organization serves.
