Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reports 26 of its staff remain unaccounted for amid rising violence in South Sudan’s Jonglei state.
The NGO said these colleagues, out of 291 working in Lankien and Pieri, vanished amid insecurity and ongoing clashes.
MSF suspended medical services in both towns after government and opposition forces escalated fighting since December last year.
On February 3, a government air strike struck an MSF facility in Lankien, forcing staff and families to flee.
Many displaced workers now shelter in remote areas, struggling without food, water, or access to basic services, the NGO said.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has suffered persistent civil war, poverty, and corruption since its 2011 independence.
The United Nations warns the country risks descending into “all-out civil war” after a collapsed power-sharing deal between rivals.
President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar have failed to maintain last year’s fragile political accord.
Recent battles centered in Jonglei have expanded, with UN reporting dozens of civilian and local official deaths near Abiemnom.
Humanitarian groups fear the intensifying conflict will deepen displacement and hunger across the already fragile South Sudanese population.
