In the quiet, sun-baked town of Old Fangak in South Sudan, an ominous transformation occurred last Saturday. The organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that their hospital, a crucial source of medical care for over 110,000 people, was shattered by a brutal airstrike, leaving at least seven dead and injuring twenty others.
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Picture this: a sanctuary of healing, where medicine meets hope, reduced to smoldering ruins. How could this happen? Two helicopter gunships, eyes of unfeeling machines, targeted the facility’s pharmacy, swiftly turning it into ashes. As if this weren’t catastrophic enough, a subsequent drone strike ripped through a nearby market, escalating the tragedy with more casualties.
Amidst the chaos, swirling tensions between President Salva Kiir’s army and supporters of First Vice-President Riek Machar painted a grim backdrop. Is the specter of war looming more menacingly over this land? The attack on this MSF hospital, a staggering 475 kilometers from the capital, Juba, has erupted into a global outcry, termed a blatant breach of international law by the medical group.
Interestingly, MSF has been a steadfast presence in this region for many years, and they made it no mystery—they had shared their coordinates with all parties involved. “This was not an accident. The hospital is clearly marked,” lamented Mamman Mustapha, head of MSF’s mission in South Sudan. His words pierced the tension with a stark revelation: “They know us, and they continued shelling on the civilian population.”
Once a haven amidst an area deprived of adequate healthcare, the Old Fangak hospital’s destruction denies thousands the chance for life-saving care. What remains for those in need? As if under a dark spell, predictions of conflict calculated with cold precision now seemed unavoidable.
This violent upheaval follows closely on the heels of heightened friction between Kiir and Machar’s factions. Army chief Paul Majok Nang’s bellicose threats to strike Fangak and Leer counties added fuel to the fire, providing a precursor to this disturbing event.
Caught in this crossfire is Biel Boutros Biel, a local official, who disclosed that the airstrikes forcibly displaced over 30,000 residents. They are on the move by foot or boat, adding to the strain of the town’s already depleted resources, netted within floodwaters and ongoing humanitarian turmoil.
The global community, too, is stirred. With international denunciation swiftly following the attack, Western embassies have called for a rapid political solution. Their voices, curiously echoing one another, also urge Kiir to release Machar from house arrest to restart peace negotiations. Could this act be a beacon of hope amid ruins?
South Sudan, an infant nation birthed by independence in 2011, has wrestled with ceaseless violence. Who remembers the civil war from 2013 to 2018 that claimed roughly 400,000 lives? Under the shadows of such history, the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups—embodiments of Kiir and Machar—engage in relentless power struggles.
In a macabre twist to all this, MSF criticized the hospital’s assault as part of a systematic pattern of government-led aggression against opposition strongholds. Last month bore witness to another grievance: the looting of an MSF facility in Upper Nile State, propelling the area into deeper humanitarian desperation.
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring
