JUBA – South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) gunships have reportedly attacked a school where students were sitting for Certificate of Secondary Education examination and hospitals operated by health charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Uror and Nyirol counties of Jonglei State.
A student was wounded and three more are missing when the gunship bombed and fired a machinegun at classrooms on Wednesday, according to local authorities. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has called for protection of civilians and an investigation into the incident.
A similar airstrike on the same day hit a healthcare facility in Pieri town in Uror County, MSF reported in a statement on Thursday. The charity said its teams found bullets that hit the facility.
MSF also said its staff witnessed additional airstrikes in Lankien, where MSF also runs healthcare facilities, but without direct damage to the infrastructure.
MSF added its staff remain safe in both locations and there have been no reported casualties among the local community linked to airstrikes.
MSF is the only healthcare provider supporting groups in vulnerable situations as well as women and children in Pieri. Meanwhile, the Lankien hospital is the only secondary healthcare facility that provides essential care in the region.
The attack on MSF-run hospitals follows several aggressions in May and June 2025, when MSF was forced to close the Old Fangak and Ulang hospitals and suspend primary care activities in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria.
“The recent airstrike shows a deeply concerning pattern in which healthcare facilities are repeatedly hit or come under fire during persistent attacks,” says Emmerson Gono, MSF deputy country director in South Sudan.
“We call for immediate protection of medical infrastructure, staff and patients in South Sudan.”
The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, is yet to respond to the reported attacks on civilian infrastructures.
