Barcelona/Nairobi, March 13, 2008 — A car belonging to the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was attacked on March 12 near the town of Balcad in Somalia. At 1 p.m. local time, several armed men opened fire on the vehicle, seriously wounding one of the MSF staff members, a security guard, who was taken to hospital where he is now recovering from a femur fracture. Three other employees were slightly injured in the incident.
The car was returning from supervising one of the MSF-operated primary health centers in Balcad, some 20 km north of Mogadishu, when it came under fire. The armed men took the occupants’ mobile phones and personal belongings, including money, as well as the car. Several other cars were also attacked during the same incident.
MSF has been working in Somalia since 1991.
