Twenty-Six Doctors Without Borders Staff Missing in South Sudan Following Coordinated Attacks on Medical Facilities

Twenty-six Doctors Without Borders workers are missing in South Sudan's Jonglei State. Read about the attacks on medical facilities and the displacement of 280,000.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 4, 2026, 11:05 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from Morning Star

A Month of Silence for Missing Humanitarian Staff

The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan has reached a critical juncture as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms that 26 of its employees have been missing for over thirty days. The medical charity lost contact with the workers following a series of violent incursions on February 3 in Jonglei State, a region currently engulfed in fighting between government and opposition forces. Of the 291 staff members originally stationed in the towns of Lankien and Pieri, these two dozen individuals remain unreachable, their fate unknown as the conflict prevents search efforts. According to MSF, the ongoing insecurity and the collapse of local communication networks have made it impossible to verify the safety of the missing personnel.

Systematic Attacks on Healthcare Infrastructure

The disappearance of the staff is directly linked to targeted strikes on medical infrastructure within opposition-held territories. MSF reported that government forces conducted an aerial bombardment of a hospital in Lankien, while a second facility in Pieri was simultaneously raided by unidentified armed assailants. These incidents are not isolated, as medical facilities operated by the charity have been targeted ten times over the past twelve months. According to Yashovardhan, the MSF head of mission in South Sudan, the deliberate targeting of medical workers is a violation of humanitarian principles, yet the frequency of these attacks suggests a persistent disregard for the protected status of healthcare providers.

Mass Displacement Amidst a Scorched Earth Offensive

The violence in Jonglei State has triggered a massive humanitarian exodus, with an estimated 280,000 people forced to flee their homes since December. This wave of displacement followed a sharp escalation in hostilities when opposition forces captured government outposts, prompting a January counter-offensive that recaptured the territory. According to reports from the field, those fleeing the violence, including the missing MSF staff, moved into deeply rural areas to escape ongoing aerial bombardments and ground clashes. The local population in Akobo has described a landscape of extreme hardship, where civilians must walk for days without access to food or water to reach relative safety near the Ethiopian border.