Crestani said that the civilians not only fear fighting on the ground, but bombing from the air.

“Women and children are mainly trying to escape or to hide themselves. This is the situation we are seeing in the villages and the towns where we are working. They are trying to keep themselves in the houses – not moving around a lot,” she said.

However, she said once word gets out that medical teams have arrived, civilians show up in large numbers. Many need treatment for malaria. Crestani says gaining greater access to regions in northern Mali is the goal of all humanitarian groups there.