Attacks on staff drive doctors out of Somalia

NAIROBI: The international medical charity Médecins sans Frontières ( MSF) has begun closing all its humanitarian operations in Somalia because of attacks on its staff.

The withdrawal of MSF – also known as Doctors Without Borders – is a blow to the government’s effort to persuade Somalis and foreign donors that security is improving despite a stubborn Islamist insurgency.

Unni Karunakara, MSF’s international president, acknowledged the charity’s departure would cut off hundreds of thousands of Somalis from medical help.

“The closure of our activities is a direct result of extreme attacks on our staff, in an environment where armed groups and civilian leaders increasing- ly support, tolerate or condone the killing, assaulting and abducting of humanitarian aid workers,” Karunakara told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

There was no immediate comment from the Somali government, which is struggling to haul the nation out of two decades of conflict and provides few public services such as health and education.

Yesterday’s announcement came about a month after two woman Spanish aid workers employed by MSF were freed by their Somali kidnappers after almost two years in captivity.

MSF had negotiated with all sides and even hired armed guards, Karunakara said, adding: “But we have reached our limit.”