An army order to evacuate the opposition-held town of Akobo has forced roughly 100,000 people to flee into Ethiopia.
Akobo, in eastern Jonglei state, has become a flashpoint as renewed clashes push South Sudan toward the brink of civil war.
The military ordered the evacuation on March 6, including foreign aid agencies, claiming control of the town amid conflicting reports.
A security source told AFP that army forces seized the barracks and destroyed nearby buildings to create a buffer zone.
UNICEF warned that violence is “raging” across Jonglei, producing a rapidly deteriorating situation for children in the conflict zone.
All patients at Akobo hospital, once a safe haven for the sick, have fled, and the facility has been looted.
The agency said malnutrition among displaced children is “worryingly high,” with 28 health and nutrition centres destroyed, looted, or closed this year.
Jonglei now faces a cholera outbreak, compounding risks for thousands of displaced families with limited access to medical care.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011 but quickly fell into civil war, remaining mired in extreme poverty and entrenched corruption.
A 2018 power-sharing deal between President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar has unraveled since early 2025, stoking fears of renewed full-scale conflict.
