Iraq: MSF supporting victims after violent blast in Sinjar

NEWS | 30 May 2008

On May 29 at approximately 11 a.m. a bomb targeting a military recruitment centre surrounded by civilian locations exploded in the town of Sinjar, Ninawa Governorate, in northern Iraq, causing at least 16 deaths and a high number of wounded, among them many civilians. So far 60 patients have been received in the local hospital which, as with most medical structures in Iraq, faces a dire lack of medical material and qualified staff. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) immediately sent supplies, including materials to treat a total of 40 burn patients, as well as sutures and anaesthetic drugs. A total of 16 patients needing surgery were transferred to the hospital in the nearby town of Dohuk, located in one of the Kurdish controlled provinces of Iraq and supported by MSF since 2007.

For security reasons it is not possible for MSF teams to access the conflict area of Iraq directly. Since 2007 the organization has established a presence in the relative safety of the Kurdish provinces in the north of the country. The aim of this presence is to supply hospitals in the northern war zone with medical material and training of staff, as well as to provide surgical treatment for war wounded transferred to the Kurdish area from the conflict zone. MSF is also able to supply hospitals in central Iraq with medical material and training.

MSF is deeply concerned about the medical situation of the civilian population of Iraq, especially the victims of the violence, who face ongoing difficulties in gaining access to medical care and treatment.