Medecins Sans Frontieres halts all operations in Somalia

{{International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has announced it will pull out of Somalia saying the threat of deadly violence had become intolerable.}}

The withdrawal of MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, is a blow to the government’s effort to persuade Somalis and foreign donors that security is improving and a stubborn insurgency is on the wane.

“The closure of our activities is a direct result of extreme attacks on our staff, in an environment where armed groups and civilian leaders increasingly support, tolerate or condone the killing, assaulting and abducting of humanitarian aid workers,” Unni Karunakara, MSF’s international president, told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.

Sixteen MSF staff members have been killed in Somalia since 1991 when civil war erupted, but the charity stayed on, negotiating with fighter groups and resorting to hiring armed guards, something it does not do in any other country.

“But we have reached our limit,” Karunakara said, fighting back tears.

{aljazeera}