afrol News, 1 February - The Doctors Without Borders [Médecins sans Frontières vehicle (MSF)] has announced to pull all its international staff out of Somalia after three of its staff were killed by a roadside blast on Monday.

"As a mark of our respect and given the lack of clarity surrounding the circumstances of the attack, for the time being MSF has suspended all international staff presence," MSF said in a statement.

The aid agency said it had withdrawn its 87 international staff from 14 projects across the Somalia.

The three staff [a Kenyan doctor, a French logistics expert and a Somali driver] and a renowned Somali journalist, Hassan Kafi Hared were killed by a blast near the port city of Kismayo.

The killings occurred when a remote-controlled bomb exploded beside a car belonging to the Dutch branch of MSF as it drove to the north of Kismayo.

The Somali journalist, who was not in the car, got killed while walking along the road.

Kismayo and its surrounding areas that have been under the control of local clans, have over the years enjoyed relative peace and stability. The recent attack followed threats of bombings by the rebels in the country.

Until his death, Hatred was a doyen journalist and correspondent of the state-owned Somali News Agency and the gedonet.com website.

The media rights watchdog, Reporters Without Borders said the transitional government's continuing failure to find a way to deal with numerous murders has aggravated the ever-present danger in a country that was without a proper functioning government since 1991.

Somali conflict has displaced at least a million people.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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