MSF Suspends Work In Burkina After Two Employees Killed

Ouagadougou, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Feb, 2023 ) :Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced Friday it was suspending most of its work in Burkina Faso after the killing last week of two of its employees by armed men.

"Following the attack in which two of our staff were killed on 8 February in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, we are suspending all our activities in the country," MSF wrote on Twitter.

"In all locations where MSF supports and provides medical and humanitarian aid in Burkina Faso, we will only respond to life-saving emergencies for an indefinite period." According to the NGO, armed men targeted an MSF vehicle carrying four medics in the northwest of the country. Two employees managed to flee and two were killed, it said.

MSF president Isabelle Defourny had denounced a "deliberate and intentional attack on a clearly identified humanitarian team, during its medical work".

The decision to shut down activities was "essential to analyse the risks our teams are currently exposed to", Friday's statement added.

"We also want to reaffirm the unacceptable nature of this attack against colleagues travelling in a clearly marked MSF vehicle during their medical work." One of the world's poorest nations, Burkina Faso has been rocked by a jihadist insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015. The country was the scene of two miliary coups in 2022.

Thousands have been killed, more than two million people have fled their homes and around 40 percent of the country lies outside government control.

On Thursday, five people including two soldiers were killed in an attack in the eastern province of Tapoa.