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MSF, ICRC Leave South Sudan's Pibor Area

Dimo Silva Aurelio

   JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN - As fighting in South Sudan's Jonglei state
   continues to spiral out of control, thousands of people including staff
   working for charity organizations have fled into the bush, forcing aid
   agencies to suspend operations in and around the Pibor Administrative
   Area.

   The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Thursday it is
   not able to evacuate and treat the wounded due to the escalating
   inter-communal violence in the area. International charity Medicine
   Sans Frontiers (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, said it has suspended
   operations in Pibor after most of its staff fled with their families.

   MSF and ICRC officials say they worry the sick and the wounded in the
   area who do not receive immediate medical attention will die.

   Thousands of people from the towns of Gumuruk and Manyabol have fled
   into the bush as the clashes approach Pibor town, some 35 kilometers
   away, according to Ibrahim Mohamed, MSF Belgium Head of Mission in
   South Sudan.

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