An airstrike carried out by the South Sudanese army reportedly struck a secondary school in Jonglei State as candidates were sitting for their final examinations, forcing students to flee into nearby bushes, according to local officials.

The bombing occurred on Wednesday morning at Ngundeng Secondary School in Lankien, Nyirol County, where learners were writing the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) exams.

This year’s CSE exams began on Monday, with 44,364 candidates registered from 510 schools, and exams being administered across 349 centres nationwide.

Peter Gatkuoth Koang, the SPLM-IO–appointed commissioner of Nyirol County, told Radio Tamazuj that one student suffered minor injuries.
“There were about 20 candidates writing their exams in Lankien,” he said. “They ran into the bushes for safety and are only beginning to return this evening.”

Koang said other sections of Lankien town were also hit, prompting more residents to flee. He condemned the strike on a civilian facility and accused government forces of targeting non-combatants, including women and children.

A senior education official in the state, speaking anonymously, confirmed that they had received preliminary reports but were still verifying the details.
“We heard there were airstrikes in Nyirol and that an examination centre was hit. This is extremely regrettable,” the official said.

Civil society advocate Ter Manyang also denounced the incident, stressing that “every child has the right to education” and calling it unacceptable for schools to be attacked. He urged the international community to hold the government accountable for strikes on schools and other civilian sites.

International humanitarian law explicitly protects schools as civilian infrastructure and prohibits attacks on them.

Nyirol County, which is largely under SPLM-IO control, has faced sporadic aerial bombardments by the SSPDF in recent weeks. The motive behind the latest strike remains unclear.