JUBA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Monday that it has lost contact with 26 staff members following the recent escalation of violence in Lankien and Pieri in South Sudan's Jonglei State.

MSF said the missing staff had already evacuated the hospital compound when fighting escalated in both Nyirol and Uror counties in early February.

The unaccounted personnel are part of a total of 291 MSF staff working in Lankien and Pieri, where fighting has intensified since December last year between the South Sudan People's Defense Force and the opposition Sudan People's Liberation Army-in-Opposition.

"The loss of contact may be linked to the absence of connectivity. However, we are seriously concerned that some of our colleagues may be facing very difficult conditions that prevent them from communicating with us," the organization said.

It added that many of the MSF staff fled the violence alongside their families, with several now displaced and sheltering in remote areas with little access to food, water or basic services.

MSF reiterated that medical workers must never be targets, noting that it is making every possible effort to re-establish contact with the missing staff and to support all affected staff and their families.

On Feb. 3, the MSF hospital in Lankien was hit by an airstrike, leaving the main warehouse storing medical supplies destroyed and one staff member injured, according to a press release by MSF. ■