One hundred and fifty-five aid workers were killed in 2013 as attacks on humanitarian workers around the world increased by 66 per cent over those in 2012, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The Aid Worker Security Report, released to coincide with World Humanitarian Day, tabulated a record number of 251 attacks that affected 460 aid workers.
(Source: The Aid Worker Security Database)
The report, compiled by the specialist consulting agency Humanitarian Outcomes, showed that 171 workers were wounded and 134 were kidnapped in 2013.
Escalating crises in Syria and South Sudan were cited as the main reason for the dramatic increase in attacks, even though, Afghanistan was the deadliest country with 81 aid workers killed there last year.
Shootings and kidnappings accounted for almost half of the attacks, and more than half of them happened while aid workers were in transit.
According to preliminary figures as of August 13, 79 aid workers have been killed in 2014. During the months of July and August, increased violence in Gaza and South Sudan accounted for a rise of attacks on aid personnel.
August 19 is designated as World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations, marking the anniversary of a 2003 bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people.
