Juba – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has suspended most of its activities in Maban, South Sudan, after suffering a violent attack on Monday 23 July. 

A group of unidentified armed men broke into the MSF office and compound in the morning, looting the organisation’s and staff’s property, burning down a tent full of equipment, and destroying most of the vehicles and communication devices. No MSF staff were physically injured during the attack. The team is now safe and the organisation is currently monitoring the situation.

The attack has forced MSF to suspend the majority of its medical support to the host communities and the refugee population in the Maban area. In this area, MSF operates a primary and secondary healthcare hospital in Doro refugee camp and ensures primary healthcare consultations in Bunj State hospital.

“Despite the attack to our facilities, our team on the ground will ensure lifesaving treatment for patients suffering from the most critical medical conditions,” says Samuel Theodore, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “However, as the safety of healthcare personnel and facilities cannot be guaranteed, we have no other choice but to suspend the rest of our activities, which will leave 88,000 people with limited access to much needed medical services.”

MSF condemns this brutal attack and calls for the respect and protection of humanitarian workers and health facilities.