Nigeria: MSF Strongly Condemns Aerial Bombing of Displaced Camp in Rann
JANUARY 17, 2017— At least 52 people were killed and 120 wounded today when the Nigerian Army bombed an internally displaced camp in Rann, Nigeria, according to the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which has teams in the area.
“This large-scale attack on vulnerable people who have already fled from extreme violence is shocking and unacceptable,” said Dr. Jean-Clément Cabrol, MSF director of operations. “The safety of civilians must be respected. We are urgently calling on all parties to ensure the facilitation of medical evacuations by air or road for survivors who are in need of emergency care.”
MSF medical teams are currently providing first aid to 120 wounded patients in its facility in Rann. The organization’s medical and surgical teams in the region are preparing to treat evacuated patients.
MSF first started working in Nigeria in 1971 and is one of the few organizations still able to operate in hard-to-reach areas of the country.