MSF charity closes medical facilities in parts of Syria after staff were kidnapped

The humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has closed medical facilities that were providing care for 150 000 people in northwestern Syria, after five of the agency’s staff were kidnapped.

The staff members were taken from an MSF run hospital in the Jabal Akrad region in January. Three were released in April, and the other two were released on 14 May. MSF’s international president, Joanne Liu, condemned the abduction, saying, “The direct consequence of taking humanitarian staff is a reduction in lifesaving aid. The long term victims of this abduction are the Syrian population.”

The organisation said that, for security reasons, …