MSF closes 2 health posts in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp over Al- Shabaab threat

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on Thursday said it has closed two of its four health posts in northeastern Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp amid escalating security threats posed by Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants.

MSF Head of Mission in Kenya, Charles Gaudry, said the closure has already had a direct impact on the charity's ability to provide "much-needed medical care" to the mainly Somali refugees.

"Refugees and medical staff are bearing the brunt of the deteriorating security conditions," Gaudry said in a statement issued in the capital Nairobi.

He said antenatal care in their hospital has also been suspended and other medical services are likely to be affected by the one-third reduction in the staff numbers.

Kenya's northeastern region, near the Somali border, has witnessed a recent spate of unrest by Al-Shabaab fighters.

The militants on Monday night ambushed police in Garissa county, leaving one policeman dead and four others injured.

In early April, the group's gunmen carried out a siege on Garissa University College, killing 142 students.

MSF called on armed groups to "guarantee respect for medical facilities, patients and staff so that it can resume full activities as soon as possible."

"MSF will continue to evaluate the situation in the hope that safety and the integrity of MSF staff in the camps can be assured. Once it has obtained such guarantees, MSF will consider resuming full medical activities in Dadaab," Goudry said.

Harboring some 350,000 people, Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world. It is home to generations of Somalis who have fled their country embroiled in conflict for over 20 years.

MSF operates a 100-bed hospital and now two health posts in Dagahaley, one of the five camps in Dadaab. Endi