MSF condemns attack on clinic

The international aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has condemned an attack last week on one of its clinics in Adan Yabal in the Middle Shabelle Region of central Somalia. It says it has suspended its activities in the area.

MSF spokesman Wyger Wentholt told IRIN that on Saturday (19 October), "a number of armed men came into an MSF-run clinic and opened fire, killing one patient and injuring two others - a patient and a visitor."

According to MSF, the patients had been brought to the clinic the previous day after being wounded in a confrontation with a rival militia. Somali sources told IRIN the fighting had been between the Abgal subclans of the Warsangali and the Agon Yar.

"MSF considers this incident to be an extremely serious violation of the fundamental principles of international law," an MSF statement said. "International humanitarian law
specifically protects medical services and directs that they must be respected and protected at all times and should not be the object of attacks."

"We want to go back, but we want assurances that the clinic can function normally and that the neutrality of medical structures will be respected," Wentholt added.