Fangak is a community in the

Fangak County Fangak County is an administrative area of Jonglei State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan, with headquarters in the town of Phom el Zaraf. Location The county is located between Koch County in Unity State in the South-West, Guit ...

Jonglei State Jonglei State is a States of South Sudan, state of South Sudan with Bor, South Sudan, Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties: Bor District (South Sudan), Bor, Akobo County, Akobo, Ayod County, ...

, in the

Greater Upper Nile The Greater Upper Nile () is a region of northeastern South Sudan. It is named for the White Nile (it is its lowest portion in South Sudan), a tributary of the Nile River in North Africa, North and East Africa, East Africa. History The Greater ...

region of

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

. The capital is Old Fangak. It was once a British garrison town. The administration buildings were destroyed during the civil war. During the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...

Gabriel Tanginye Gabriel Gatwech Chan (1960 – 5 January 2017), better known by his nom de guerre Tanginye (meaning "long pipe"), was a South Sudanese military officer and rebel commander of various ethnic Nuer militant groups during the Second Sudanese Civ ...

, commander of a pro-government Nuer militia had his base in Fangak. Tanginya was at first associated with Commander Paulino Matiep in

Anyanya II Anyanya II is the name taken in 1978 by a group of the 64 tribes of South Sudan dissidents who took up arms in All of Sudan. The name implies continuity with the Anyanya, or Anya-Nya, movement of the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972). When t ...

, then with Paulino joined

Riek Machar Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 26 November 1952) is a South Sudanese politician who has served as the vice president of South Sudan on several occasions, most recently as the first vice president, since 2020. A member of the Nuer ethnic group ...

SPLA-Nasir The SPLA-Nasir was a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Originally created as an attempt by the Nuer people, Nuer tribe to replace SPLA leader John Garang in A ...

force in 1991. In the 1990s the

militia was said to have had its only prison at Fangak, which lies in the center of a malarial swamp. In February 2011, forces loyal to the rebel General

George Athor George Athor Deng (1962 – 19 December 2011) was the Sudan People's Liberation Army lieutenant general and a SPLA dissident who led the South Sudan Democratic Movement and its military wing, the South Sudan Defence Army. He was also an indepe ...

attacked three operational outposts of the

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...

(SPLA). They briefly occupied the town of Fangak before withdrawing when SPLA troops arrived. Several people died in the conflict. Later the SPLA reported that at least 105 people had been killed, mostly women and children. UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

called for immediate implementation of the January ceasefire agreement. Starting in July 2020, unusually heavy rains have flood the White Nile, destroying crops, farms and villages in Jonglei and other states in the area. Of 62 villages in Old Fangak, 45 were devastated by floods. About 1.6 million people required assistance according to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Fangak, being remote and isolated, and the capital Old Fangak on an island and accessible only by boat or small plane, has attracted many refugees from fighting in other parts of the country. On May 3, 2025, a bombing targeted a

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...

(MSF)

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

and

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

in Fangak,

, resulting in at least seven deaths and over 27 injured.

Notable people

* Buth Diu (died 1972)

References

{{reflist Populated places in Jonglei State Fangak County