Bombay Durpun - Huge numbers at imminent risk from S.Sudan army offensive: MSF

MSF said it pulled out of Akobo in Jonglei state on Saturday and its facilities were looted, a day after the army ordered foreign agencies to leave.

Jonglei has been the focus of clashes between government and opposition forces since December, displacing at least 280,000 people, as a power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival Riek Machar has broken down.

The United Nations told AFP it had not complied with the order to leave.

"Our peacekeepers are maintaining their presence in Akobo and continuing to carry out their mandated responsibilities," said Priyanka Chowdhury, spokesperson for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

Akobo residents now face an "impossible choice" between fleeing "without protection or remain at risk of being killed", said MSF in a statement.

They include 17,000 people who had only just been displaced by fighting nearby, it said.

AFP visited Akobo hospital last month and found it in a desperate state -- a ramshackle collection of buildings, most without doors or windows, with only one overwhelmed surgeon.

"The consequences for people are devastating," said Christophe Garnier, MSF head of mission. "Families are being forced to abandon their homes repeatedly, with no safe alternatives."

Many residents have already fled across the nearby border with Ethiopia.

MSF says its facilities in South Sudan have been attacked 12 times in the past year, forcing the closure of three hospitals.

"We had made it clear that we intend to conduct offensive operations in Akobo and the surrounding areas," army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang told AFP, blaming opposition forces for looting the hospital.

"Now that the period we announced has passed (72 hours), it is up to the commanders leading our troops to decide the next course of action," he said.

South Sudan gained independence in 2011 but soon descended into civil war between Kiir and Machar's forces. A 2018 power-sharing deal brought relative peace but has unravelled over the past year.

As the country tips back into civil war, massive corruption means the little healthcare that exists is almost entirely through foreign NGOs.

C.Jaggi--BD