UN suspends aid delivery to Borno after attack
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has temporarily suspended aid deliveries in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Borno, the former stronghold of Boko Haram, after a humanitarian convoy was attacked, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said on Thursday.
UNICEF said in a statement that unknown assailants attacked the convoy on Thursday as it returned to Maiduguri from delivering aid in Bama, injuring a UNICEF employee and an International Organization for Migration contractor.
“The United Nations has temporarily suspended humanitarian assistance missions pending review of the security situation,” it said.
Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said troops were escorting the humanitarian convoy when it was attacked by “suspected remnants of Boko Haram” and that two soldiers and three civilians were wounded.
The convoy was ambushed by the militants on Thursday in Nigeria’s restive northeast, leaving several people wounded.
It was the first such attack on aid workers in the volatile region, the epicenter of the seven-year Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria’s mainly-Muslim north.
“The convoy was traveling from Bama to Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria, returning from delivering desperately needed assistance,” when it was ambushed, UNICEF said in a statement Friday.
“Unknown assailants attacked a humanitarian convoy that includ- ed staff from UNICEF, UNFPA, and IOM,” the statement added.
It said a UNICEF employee and an IOM contractor were injured in the attack and were being treated at a local hospital.