At least seven killed in South Sudan hospital bombing: MSF

As rumors spread that the world’s youngest nation will revert to a full-blooded civil war, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has claimed that at least seven people have been killed and another 20 have been injured in a South Sudanese attack.

The only hospital and pharmacy in Old Fangak, which is still operational, were destroyed, according to MSF on Saturday.

In an X-post, MSF urged people to “stop the bombing.” Protect people in the community. “Protect healthcare,” and that the attack was “a clear violation of international law.”
The facility’s purpose was not immediately known. According to the Associated Press news agency, it was impossible to contact a spokesman for the South Sudanese military for comment.

The hospital owned by MSF in Old Fangak, South Sudan, was bombed today.

The pharmacy was completely destroyed. All medical supplies are lost. People have been reported to have been injured and killed.

The only nearby hospital that is functional is this.

Stop the bombings. Protect people in the community. Healthcare security pic. https://twitter.com/xVtEV0sLp

Several eyewitnesses reported that additional strikes came hours later near a market in Old Fangak, which sparked widespread panic and civilian displacement.

Conflicts between First Vice President Riek Machar’s forces and President Salva Kiir’s have boiled over.

One of the largest towns in Fangak county, an ethnically Nuer region known for its history, is Old Fangak, where Machar is currently alleged to have been under house arrest.

In response to the violence between rival factions, the UN has issued a warning in recent weeks that South Sudan is in danger of resuming its civil war.

Soon after gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan’s conflict with Machar, an ethnic Nuer, erupted as forces aligned with Kiir, an ethnic Dinka.

Prior to the pair’s formation of a government of national unity in the wake of the conflict, which claimed more than 40 000 lives.

The hospital attack is just the latest instance of the government’s crackdown on opposition groups nationwide. Government troops supported by Ugandan soldiers have launched numerous airstrikes targeting areas in the neighboring Upper Nile State since March.

In a statement released on Friday, several Western embassies, including the United States, claimed that South Sudan’s political and security situation had “markedly worsened” in recent days.

The embassies demanded that Machar be freed from house arrest and that there be a “return to dialogue urgently aimed at achieving a political solution.”