Tragedy in South Sudan: Hospital and market bombing claims lives

At least seven people have been killed in South Sudan following airstrikes on a hospital and a market on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

This is according to the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), intensifying fears that the country may be sliding back into civil war.

MSF reported that helicopter gunships dropped a bomb on the pharmacy of the hospital it operates in Old Fangak, located in Jonglei State.

The bombing completely destroyed the pharmacy and ignited a fire, while the helicopters continued firing on the town for about 30 minutes.

Subsequently, a drone carried out an airstrike on a nearby market. In total, the attacks left 20 people injured.

The hospital targeted in the assault was the only functioning medical facility in Fangak County, home to more than 110,000 people,

MSF said. As a result of the attack, all of the hospital’s medical supplies were destroyed.

MSF described the bombing as a blatant breach of international humanitarian law.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newshour programme, MSF spokesperson Mamman Mustapha said the organization was still trying to confirm all the details of the incident.

However, local accounts indicated that the aircraft involved were helicopters operated by government forces.

“The hospital is clearly marked as a medical facility, bearing our organization’s logo,” Mustapha explained.

“We have shared the hospital’s coordinates with all warring factions in the area, so there should be no doubt that it is a healthcare center protected under international law.”

At the time of the attack, there was no immediate response from the South Sudanese government.

The BBC reported it had contacted the country’s foreign affairs ministry for comment.

The airstrikes come amid mounting concerns that South Sudan is on the verge of returning to full-scale civil conflict.

Nicholas Haysom, who heads the United Nations mission in the country, recently warned that South Sudan is “teetering on the brink of a return to full-scale civil war.”

These concerns have been fueled by intensifying tensions between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar.

Just hours before the bombing took place, the army chief, Paul Majok Nang, vowed to launch retaliatory attacks after a series of barges traveling along a river route were hijacked.

He attributed those hijackings to a militia allegedly aligned with Machar, although Machar has not publicly responded to the accusation.

Machar himself was detained in March along with several of his close associates.

Authorities accused him of attempting to incite rebellion.

In a move seen as further escalating the crisis, the government recently released a list of counties it deems “hostile,” a label that effectively identifies them as sympathetic to Machar’s cause.

This designation has heightened fears that the country may once again become engulfed in ethnic conflict, as Machar and Kiir represent South Sudan’s two largest ethnic groups.

South Sudan achieved independence from Sudan in 2011.

However, internal political rivalries led to a civil war in 2013.

This was after President Kiir dismissed Machar from his post as vice-president, alleging that he had planned a coup.

The conflict that followed, which was largely drawn along ethnic divisions, reportedly claimed an estimated 400,000 lives.

It also displaced 2.5 million people, more than 20% of the population.

A peace agreement was signed in 2018, resulting in a unity government led once again by both Kiir and Machar.

However, many key elements of the agreement have yet to be implemented.

Elections that were supposed to be held have been repeatedly delayed.

In addition, the peace accord called for the disbandment of militias and the formation of a unified national army, but this has not occurred.

Many armed groups remain active and continue to pledge loyalty to individual political leaders.

The current wave of violence can be traced back to earlier this year, when the White Army, a militia that supported Machar during the civil war, engaged in a confrontation with government forces in Upper Nile State.

The militia captured a military base in the town of Nasir during the fighting.

Then, in March, a United Nations helicopter attempting to evacuate soldiers from a conflict zone came under fire.

That attack killed several individuals, including a senior army general.

Human rights organizations have condemned the increasing use of military force against civilian areas.

They are urging the South Sudanese military to cease such attacks immediately.

They warn that continued violence against non-combatants is a dangerous step backward and threatens to derail any remaining hopes for peace.

As investigations into the recent bombings continue, humanitarian agencies are reportedly calling for accountability and protection of civilian infrastructure.

These include hospitals, which are shielded under international law.

With the country already plagued by political instability, poor infrastructure, and widespread poverty, the loss of medical services in such a critical area poses a devastating blow to public health and safety.