At least 130 Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff from a clinic in South Sudan are missing, the international medical organization said in a statement. The staff had been running a facility in Pibor, but as ethnic violence in the area has left scores dead and thousands fleeing the area, MSF has been unable to contact their staff. Renewed ethnic violence in Jonglei State, South Sudan, has forced thousands of families to flee into the bush. Two Doctors Without Borders medical facilities have been targeted and the independent medical humanitarian organization has been forced to temporarily suspend its much needed medical activities in Pibor County. Late last month, two doctors with MSF were shot and killed in Somalia, highlighting the dangers of working in conflict zones. According to the statement from the group, the staff had evacuated the hospital in Pibor and two outreach clinics as fighters from the Lou Nuer tribe inched closer to the area. Reports from the area say the facilities had been set ablaze by the fighters. The Lou Nuer and Murle are in conflict, with each accusing the other of stealing cattle and killing tribal members. Neither UN peacekeepers nor the South Sudan army were able to stop the attack on Pibor. “Thousands of people have fled for their lives in Lekongole and Pibor in the last week and are now hiding in the bush, frightened for their lives,” said Parthesarathy Rajendran, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “They fled in haste and have no food or water, some of them doubtless carrying wounds or injuries, and now they are on their own, hiding, beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/4Esb0 Tags: Doctors Without Borders, Pibor, South Sudan Section: Health, Latest News, Sudan
