South Sudan: Bombing of hospital and market deepens fears of civil war

A devastating aerial assault on Old Fangak in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has left at least seven civilians dead and twenty more injured,as humanitarian agencies raise alarms over the reawakening of full-scale civil conflict.

The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that a helicopter gunship attacked the only hospital in Fangak County,obliterating its pharmacy and critical supplies,followed by a drone strike that hit a bustling market. With over 110,000 residents reliant on this facility,the attack is being condemned as a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law.

While the South Sudanese government has yet to issue a formal response,MSF’s spokesperson Mamman Mustapha stated that local witnesses identified the aircraft as belonging to government forces. The hospital,clearly marked and its coordinates shared with all parties in the conflict,should have been spared under the conventions of war. The timing of the bombing—hours after the army vowed retaliation for recent river barge hijackings allegedly by a militia linked to Vice-President Riek Machar—has further fuelled suspicions of state involvement.

Tensions between President Salva Kiir and his erstwhile deputy Machar have surged in recent weeks,drawing grim parallels to the civil war that erupted in 2013,just two years after South Sudan’s independence. Despite the 2018 peace accord that birthed a unity government,key promises remain unfulfilled—elections have stalled,militias persist,and the formation of a unified national army is far from realised. With political rivalries increasingly splintering along ethnic lines,and the recent resurgence of the White Army militia clashing with state forces,the spectre of renewed civil war looms ominously over the world’s youngest nation.