On Monday morning it was a busy South Sudan hospital. By Tuesday night it was a bombed-out shell

"“I saw the plane that came and bombed our hospital with my own eyes,” says Nyakeda, a deaf woman using sign language, who had been back in Lankien for a week. “The situation is worsening. There's no medication in the area. We are suffering.”"

"The burnt, roofless and partly collapsed tukuls (traditional mud houses) that could be seen upon landing offer only a glimpse of the devastation. At the airstrip, the presence of a small crowd led by traditional chiefs in uniforms and red sashes seems surreal. They had gathered to welcome the visitors, after having themselves returned from weeks of survival in the bush."

"On this hot day in late April, a team from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is back for the first time since shutting down their hospital there, 10 weeks earlier. They know what had happened shortly after the hospital's closure: a bomb was dropped on it by a government plane on 3 February, followed by a ground invasion that turned Lankien into a ghost town."

"The UN estimates that, since December 2025, more than 304,000 people in Jonglei have been displaced by fighting between the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), the government army loyal to President Salva Kiir, and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM-IO), the opposition group led by the now-suspended vice-president, Riek Machar."

A single-engine Cessna Caravan approaches Lankien in Jonglei, South Sudan, carrying an MSF team returning after shutting down a hospital 10 weeks earlier. The hospital was hit on 3 February by a government plane, followed by a ground invasion that turned Lankien into a ghost town. Burnt, roofless, partly collapsed tukuls are visible on landing, and a small crowd led by traditional chiefs welcomes the visitors despite weeks of survival in the bush. Women sing and dance amid the destruction. A deaf woman describes witnessing the bombing and reports worsening conditions, including no medication in the area. UN estimates indicate more than 304,000 people displaced in Jonglei since December 2025 due to fighting between government forces and SPLM-IO.

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