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No MSF staff killed, injured in Nigeria air strike: official

Xinhua, January 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

No staff member of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was killed when a military jet misfired missiles on a refugee camp in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno on Tuesday, the Nigerian office of the international humanitarian aid organization said on Wednesday.

At least 52 people lost their lives and 120 others injured in the bombing which the Nigerian military has already admitted as an "operational error."

In a statement made available to Xinhua, the MSF said its teams were vaccinating children against measles and screening them for malnutrition as well as providing general health consultations at the time of the incident, but none of its direct staff members was killed or wounded in the airstrike.

"We have unfortunately received the sad information that three employees of a Cameroonian firm who was hired by MSF to provide water and sanitation services in the camp lost their lives during the attack," said the statement signed by Hugues Robert, head of MSF's emergency response in Nigeria.

Despite the tragedy, the MSF, which delivers emergency aid in more than 60 countries to people affected by armed conflicts, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters or exclusion from healthcare, will continue its work in Nigeria and give support to the authorities and families affected, the statement added.

Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday expressed deep sadness and regret over the incident, noting that the military was engaged in the final phase of mopping up Boko Haram terrorists in the country's northeast region when the accidental discharge occurred.

The incident occurred after an intelligence report was received that Boko Haram terrorists were regrouping in Rann town, the area in which the internally displaced persons' camp that was mistakenly bombed is situated, the Nigerian Army said.

The Nigerian military is currently intensifying aerial and ground patrol in the country's northeast, extending its offensive mission around the Green Belt Region near Niger and Chad. Endit