The NGO notably explained that it wants to take the time to “analyze the risks to which its teams are exposed”.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The NGO Doctors Sans Frontières (MSF) announced in a press release Friday, February 17, suspend all of its activities in Burkina Faso , after two of its employees were killed on February 8 during an attack on alleged jihadists in the northwest of the country. “In all the localities where MSF supports and provides medical and humanitarian aid, only vital emergencies will be ensured for an indefinite period,” explains the text.
Wednesday, February 8, MSF announced the death of two of its Burkinabé employees killed the same day by “armed men” who had “targeted” a “vehicle of doctors without borders, clearly identified”. The vehicle, which transported a medical team of four people, was on the road between Dédougou and Tougan, in the northwest of the country.
“This measure, necessary in mourning time, is essential to analyze the risks to which our teams are currently exposed, explains the NGO. It is also a question of reaffirming the unacceptable nature of this attack on colleagues circulating in a MSF vehicle clearly identified within the framework of their medical mission. “On February 8, the president of MSF, Isabelle Defourny, had denounced” a deliberate and intentional attack “.
Burkina Faso, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been taken since 2015 in a spiral of jihadist violence that appeared in Mali a few years ago and which has extended beyond its borders. Violence has left more than 12,000 dead – civil and military – according to the NGO ACLED, which lists the victims of conflicts worldwide. Some 2 million people are moved inside the country.