A hospital operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Lankien, Jonglei state, was struck by an airstrike carried out by South Sudan government forces late Tuesday night, the medical charity said on Wednesday.

One MSF staff member sustained minor injuries in the attack, which destroyed the hospital’s main warehouse and most of its medical supplies, according to the organisation.

The facility had been evacuated several hours earlier after MSF received warnings of a possible attack on the town.

In a separate incident earlier the same day, MSF said its healthcare centre in Pieri, also in Jonglei state, was looted by unidentified assailants, rendering it unusable.

Staff from both Lankien and Pieri fled alongside local residents, and MSF said it was still attempting to determine their whereabouts.

MSF said it had previously shared the GPS coordinates of all its facilities with the government and other parties to the conflict and had received confirmation that their locations were known.

“The government of South Sudan armed forces are the only armed party with the capacity to perform aerial attacks in the country,” said Gul Badshah, MSF operations manager. He added that the looting of the Pieri health centre had occurred just hours before the bombardment of the Lankien hospital.

MSF was the sole provider of healthcare services for an estimated 250,000 people in Lankien and Pieri. The attacks mean that communities in the area are now without access to medical care, the organisation said.

Badshah said MSF would reassess its operations to ensure staff safety. “While we are aware of the enormous needs in the country, we find it unacceptable to be a target for attacks,” he said, noting that MSF has worked in South Sudan for more than four decades.

The airstrike follows recent restrictions imposed by the government on humanitarian access in opposition-held areas of Jonglei state, which MSF said have been in place since December.

The organisation warned that the restrictions have limited the delivery of essential medical assistance, particularly affecting children, pregnant women and people with chronic or life-threatening conditions.

MSF reported eight targeted attacks on its operations in South Sudan in 2025, which led to the closure of two hospitals in the Greater Upper Nile region and the suspension of general healthcare activities in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states.

MSF has operated in South Sudan since 1983 and remains one of the country’s largest medical humanitarian organisations. In 2025, it provided more than 830,000 outpatient consultations, treated over 93,000 inpatients and performed about 12,000 surgeries, the organisation said.

The government or army has yet to comment.