MSF suspends operations in northwest Burkina Faso after armed men kill two staff

• MSF has halted operations in a region of northwest Burkina Faso.
• The attack occurred in the Boucle de Mouhoun.
• MSF has paused its operations in order to better understand the circumstances.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) announced in a statement that it has halted operations in a region of northwest Burkina Faso where two of its staff were murdered by armed intruders on Wednesday.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning in the administrative district known as “Boucle de Mouhoun” of the Sourou province, gunmen opened fire on an MSF-branded vehicle carrying four staff members between the villages of Dedougou and Tougan.

According to a statement from MSF, the driver, and a logistics supervisor, both citizens of Burkina Faso, died at the age of 39 and 34, respectively.

The other two passengers succeeded in getting away.

In order to better understand the circumstances surrounding the attack, MSF has paused its operations in the Boucle de Mouhoun, the statement continued.

One of the West African nations dealing with brutal Islamist extremists linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State is Burkina Faso.

After a Tuareg uprising in Mali in 2012, the insurgency that plagues the Sahel region south of the Sahara began to take hold. The insurgency has extended to neighboring nations like Burkina Faso and more recently to coastal states despite expensive international attempts to keep it in check, killing thousands of people and uprooting more than 2 million.

Thousands of displaced individuals were receiving medical care from MSF in the Boucle de Mouhoun. In August, it issued a warning about the sharp increase in the number of persons fleeing attacks and looking for safety nearby.

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