Médecins Sans Frontières flag. Photo by: Athena McKown

Danger seems to be tailing the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières. On Saturday (Dec. 31), it lost contact with 130 of its staff members in Pibor county, Jonglei state, South Sudan.

Members of the Lou Nuer ethnic group set fire on houses and attacked villages of the Murle community in Pibor. The MSF clinic, the only one in Pibor, has been looted, damaged and set on fire.

MSF head of mission in South Sudan Parthesarathy Rajendran told news agencies the organization believes its staff members have fled into the bushes along with thousands of civilians to escape and that their precise whereabouts are unknown. He said MSF has only been able to get in touch with 13 of its members.

“MSF is deeply concerned about their safety,” the organization’s statement said.

Just last August, MSF staff members have also been sandwiched in attacks in the town of Pieri, also in Jonglei state. The organization’s compound and clinic in the area were also looted, and parts of the MSf facilities were burned down.

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