A bullet hole in an MSF healthcare facility in Pieri, Jonglei state. South Sudan, December 2025.

A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) healthcare facility in the town of Pieri, Jonglei state, South Sudan, was hit during an airstrike on the morning of 3 December, according to the medical charity organisation.

After the facility was hit and the gunship helicopter left, MSF teams found bullets that had hit the infrastructure within the facility.

MSF teams also witnessed additional airstrikes in Lankien (around 60 kilometres away), where we also run healthcare facilities, although there was no direct damage to the infrastructure.

In both locations, all MSF staff are safe, and there have been no reported casualties among the local community linked to the airstrikes. MSF is the only healthcare provider supporting the community in Pieri, and MSF’s Lankien hospital is the only secondary (advanced)-level healthcare facility providing lifesaving care in the region.

In 2025, our teams experienced several attacks which have forced the closure of Old Fangak  and Ulang hospital in May and June, and the suspension of general healthcare activities in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states.

Bullets found within a MSF healthcare facility that was hit and damaged during an airstrike on the morning of 3 December, in the town of Pieri. Jonglei state, South Sudan, December 2025.

“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 Head of Mission in South Sudan.

“We call for the immediate protection of medical infrastructure, staff and patients in South Sudan.”

MSF operates one of our largest assistance programmes worldwide in South Sudan, responding to the many health needs resulting from ongoing conflict, displacement, recurrent disasters, and disease outbreaks.

These issues are compounded by a marked decrease in international funding for humanitarian and development programmes in the country, and the precarious state of the national healthcare system.