Africa
6 years ago

UN halts operation in Nigerian town following aid workers’ death

UNHAS members evacuate bodies of three aid workers, who were killed during an attack in the town of Rann, at Maiduguri Airport, Nigeria March 2, 2018. Reuters.
UNHAS members evacuate bodies of three aid workers, who were killed during an attack in the town of Rann, at Maiduguri Airport, Nigeria March 2, 2018. Reuters.

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The United Nations has suspended aid operations helping tens of thousands of people in north-eastern Nigeria after an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants left three humanitarian workers dead.

At least three others went missing after the attack.

The suspension of aid work in the town of Rann, which hosts a camp for 55,000 people displaced by the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency, was announced late on Friday in a statement from the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

At least 11 people, including the three aid workers were killed by the suspected militants in an attack on a military barracks in Rann in Borno state late on Thursday, according to the Reuters. .

“At the time of the attack, over 40 humanitarian workers were in Rann,” said the UN statement. “All humanitarian personnel have been evacuated from Rann, and all humanitarian deliveries in the area have been temporarily suspended.”

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres on Friday said it had suspended its work in Rann following the attack and evacuated both national and international staff.

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