MSF Shuts Ulang Hospital in South Sudan After Armed Attacks

• Jun 10, 2025

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has permanently closed its hospital in Ulang County, South Sudan, due to repeated security threats targeting its staff and facilities.

The decision comes after a violent incident in April 2025 when armed men stormed the hospital, threatened staff members, and looted essential medical supplies. MSF had initially suspended services temporarily, but this suspension has now been made permanent. The closure also includes MSF’s withdrawal of support from 13 other primary health facilities across the region.

MSF has been offering vital healthcare in Ulang since 2018, operating a 60-bed secondary hospital and supporting a network of primary healthcare centers. In 2024 alone, MSF provided over 10,000 outpatient consultations, admitted 3,284 patients, and assisted with 650 childbirths. The hospital served as a lifeline for thousands of people across an area stretching from the Ethiopian border to Malakal—more than 200 kilometers—with limited access to medical care.

The decision to shut down operations follows several violent incidents that raised serious concerns about the safety of humanitarian workers. MSF's Head of Mission in South Sudan, Zakariya Mwatia, stressed that staff and patient safety must come first. “The safety of our staff and patients is our foremost priority,” he said after the April attack. “We are taking all necessary measures to evacuate our teams as we fear further escalation of violence.”

Mwatia also condemned the violence, calling it a violation of humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law. “This unacceptable act of violence has directly affected our ability to provide care at a time when it is most urgently needed,” he said.

Unfortunately, this was not the first attack on MSF personnel in Ulang. In January 2025, two marked MSF boats carrying six staff members were attacked by armed men as they returned from Nasir County Hospital. This incident had already forced MSF to halt outreach programs in the area.

A separate attack on May 3, 2025, also targeted an MSF facility in Old Fangak. According to reports, two helicopter gunships dropped a bomb on the MSF pharmacy at 4:30 a.m., destroying it, before firing on the town for about 30 minutes.

With the closure of the Ulang hospital and continued threats to other sites, thousands of residents in Upper Nile are now left without reliable access to medical care at a time when they need it most.