Attacks On Humanitarian Workers

Humanitarian aid workers belonging to United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are among the list of protected persons under international humanitarian law that grant them immunity from attack by belligerent parties. However, deliberate violence is the leading cause of death among aid workers, and attacks have become increasingly more frequent since 1997 when the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) began tracking them.
The number of aid workers attacked has increased from 260 in 2008 to 595 in 2023. For the first 20 years of the AWSD, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, and Syria were consistently the most dangerous places for aid workers to operate. Between 2013 and 2018, an average of 127 aid workers were killed, 120 injured, and 104 abducted worldwide per year. In November 2024, the UN reported that 281 aid workers had been killed that year, making 2024 the deadliest year on record; 175 of the deaths occurred in Gaza. Additionally the UN stated that 333 aid workers had been killed thus far in the Gaza War, the highest number recorded in a single crisis.

The most common causes of death among aid workers are shootings and air strikes, with road travel being particularly dangerous. A large contributor to violence against aid workers is kidnapping, though most end in release after negotiations. Motives for attacks on aid workers are often unknown, but of those that are known the cause is often political. Aid workers may be targeted for delivering aid to a population whom others do not wish aid to reach or for being seen as collaborating with an enemy group. During the War in Afghanistan, for example, there was an increase in politically motivated attacks, potentially because local residents stopped distinguishing between organisations who worked directly with the US military and those who did not.

Legal basis for the protection of humanitarian workers

The legal basis for the protection of humanitarian workers in armed conflicts is contained in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the related Protocols I and II of 1977. These treaties outline the rights and obligations of non-combatants who fulfill the criteria of protected persons during armed conflicts. These rights include the right to be treated humanely; to have access to food, water, shelter, medical treatment, and communications; to be free from violence to life and person, hostage taking, and humiliating or degrading treatment; and the prohibition against collective punishment or imprisonment. Protected persons include citizens and nationals of countries that are not a party to the conflict, except if such persons happen to be in the territory of a belligerent power, which maintains diplomatic relations with their home states.

While the Geneva Conventions guarantee protection for humanitarian workers, they do not guarantee access of humanitarian workers to affected areas: governments or occupying forces may, if they wish, ban a relief agency from working in their area. Médecins Sans Frontières was created in 1971 with the express purpose of ignoring this restriction, by providing assistance to populations affected by the Biafran civil war despite the prohibitions of the government of Nigeria.

In addition, the Geneva Conventions do not require that parties to the conflict guarantee the safety of humanitarian workers. The Conventions prohibit combatants from attacking protected persons, and they require occupying forces to maintain general order. However, the Conventions do not require that combating parties provide security escorts, for example, when other factions threaten the safety of protected persons operating in their area.

In 2003, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1502 giving greater protection to humanitarian workers and treating attacks on them as a war crime. ICRC promotes a framework for Neutral Independent Humanitarian Action (NIHA) to enable differentiated role understanding.

Recording attacks on humanitarian workers

According to ''The New York Times'', the Aid Worker Security Database is "widely regarded as an authoritative reference for aid organisations and governments in assessing trends in security threats." A project of Humanitarian Outcomes, it receives funding from USAID. Since 1997, it has tracked incidents of violence such as abduction, killing, serious injury, and sexual assault but not safety incidents like vehicle crashes or accidental detonations during mine clearing projects. Aid workers are defined as employees and other staff of non-profit aid organizations providing humanitarian relief, such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental organizations, UNDP, UNRWA, WHO, UNICEF, and other UN agencies. The database does not track attacks on UN peacekeepers, election monitors, or employees of advocacy organizations.

Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is another database that includes attacks on humanitarian workers in addition to other conflict-related incidents. Insecurity Insight produces monthly ''Aid in Danger'' reports that highlight attacks during the month from news media, the AWSD and ACLED.

Summary of major incidents involving aid workers by country (1997–2023)

Major incidents recorded by the Aid Worker Security Database include killings, kidnappings, and attacks resulting in serious injury. The data is verified through December 31, 2023. A full list of major incidents from 1997 to the present, can be found on the organization's website.

Trends

Accidents and illnesses contribute only a minority of reported aid worker deaths; the majority are caused by deliberate violence, most commonly
shootings and air strikes. Road travel is by far the most dangerous context for aid workers, who can be attacked via ambushes, IEDs, or fake checkpoints. Others include raids and individual attacks.

A large contributor to violence against aid workers is abduction, though most are not fatal. On average, foreign aid workers are abducted for a longer period than local staff due to higher ransom demands from kidnappers. Previously, abduction was the highest cause of violence, after the number of kidnappings quadrupled between 2002 and 2012.

In 2008, 260 aid workers were attacked, the highest since the AWSD began in 1997.Abby Stoddard, Adele Harmer and Victoria DiDomenico (2009
Providing Aid in Insecure Environments: Trends in violence against aid workers and the operational response (2009 Update)
Overseas Development Institute The record increased in 2011 when 308 aid workers were attacked. Between 2013 and 2018, an average of 127 aid workers were killed, 120 injured, and 104 abducted per year. Between 1997 and 2018, the countries with the greatest total number of attacks on aid workers were Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, and Syria. During the Global War on Terror, including the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan, the number of attacks in the Middle East and Central Africa grew. After the CIA used a sham polio vaccination program to locate and kill Osama bin Laden, violence against vaccination aid workers increased.

In 2019, the record for aid workers who were attacked increased again to 483. In 2023, 595 aid workers were attacked. 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries,163 of which died in Gaza during the first three months of the Gaza War. The countries with the next highest number of deaths were South Sudan with 34 deaths and Sudan with 25. By November 2024, 281 aid workers had been killed, making 2024 the deadliest year for aid workers on record. 175 of the deaths occurred in Gaza. Additionally the UN stated that 333 aid workers had been killed thus far in the Gaza War, the highest number recorded in a single crisis.

Motives

It is often hard to ascertain a motive for attacks on aid workers; for instance, in 55% of the incidents recorded by the AWSD in 2008, the motive was described as "undetermined". However, of those that were determined, political motivations have increased (29% of the determined total in 2003 to 49% in 2008) relative to economic motivations, or when the victim's status as an aid worker was only incidental. Aid workers can be targeted for political reasons both directly and by association. Sometimes the humanitarian organisation may be targeted for something that it has done or a statement it has made, or simply for the delivery of aid to a population, to whom others do not wish aid to reach. It can also be targeted as a result of being associated as an entity collaborating with a group or government seen as an enemy, leading humanitarian organizations to strive be seen as politically independent and neutral. However, evidence shows that this has little impact and instead that western aid agencies are perceived as an intrinsic part of western governments' agendas and not merely associated with it.

Afghanistan reflected this dynamic during the War on Terror when it was one of the most dangerous countries for humanitarian workers to operate. In 2007, 61% of incidents there were carried out by criminals and 39% by political opposition groups, but in 2008, 65% of incidents were the work of armed opposition groups. According to a 2009 report by Humanitarian Outcomes, this increase in politically motivated attacks may have occurred because Afghan locals stopped distinguishing between organisations who worked with the US military and those who did not, with the notable exception of the ICRC. In remote areas, humanitarian workers sometimes represented the only accessible western target. However, at least two studies did not find evidence indicating heightened aid worker insecurity in provinces where the US military was present.

List of major attacks on humanitarian workers

A full downloadable list of major incidents, from 1997–present, of violence against aid workers, can be found at the Aid Worker Security Database.

1915

Belgium

* October 12 – Edith Cavell was a British Red Cross nurse who was executed for helping 200 Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium during World War I.

1964

Democratic Republic of the Congo

* August 17 – Two UN officials, Jean Plicque and Francois Preziosi, were killed by rebels. Plicque was a member of the ILO, and Preziosi was the first member of UNHCR to be killed in the line of duty.

1988

Palestine

* December 1987 to February 1988 – According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Israeli forces regularly attacked ambulances by firing on them, assaulting their crews, or preventing them from transporting patients to hospital. These attacks occurred in various locations including Jabalia, Hableh, Nablus, and Saeer. On January 23, Israeli forces commandeered an ambulance and used it to transport themselves into Bani Na'im village.

1993

Bosnia and Herzegovina

* January 27 – Three British aid workers from Crown Agents/ UNHCR were ambushed in their vehicle in Zenica. One, Paul Goodall, died and the other two were wounded while fleeing. Three of the gunmen were later killed by security forces; another was arrested but escaped.
* July 5 – Christine Witcutt, a Scottish aid worker from Edinburgh Direct Aid, was shot and killed by a sniper after delivering supplies to a Sarajevo hospital.

Somalia

* January 2 – A gunman killed Sean Devereux, a British worker for UNICEF in Kismayu.
* February 22 – Gunmen killed Valerie Place, an Irish nurse with the charity Concern.

1995

Bosnia and Herzegovina

* July 11 – Nine ICRC employees were killed during the Srebrenica massacre. Between 2005 and 2011, their bodies were found and identified in mass graves. They are currently buried at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial.

1996

Burundi

* June 4 – Three Swiss ICRC workers were killed in an attack on two vehicles on the road between the villages of Rugombo and Mugina in Cibitoke Province, resulting in a withdrawal of the ICRC from Burundi.

Chechnya

* December 17 – Six ICRC workers were killed in an attack on the Novye Atagi hospital. ICRC withdrew all expatriate staff from Chechnya.

1997

Somalia

* November 23 – The UN successfully negotiated with clan elders for the release of five aid workers kidnapped from a boat in the Somaliland region.

Tajikistan

* December – A French aid worker, Karine Mane, was taken hostage and died two weeks later during a failed rescue mission by government forces.

1998

Somalia

* April 21 – 10 aid workers were held hostage.

Sudan

* June 10 – Three Sudanese UN staff were killed and three wounded when gunmen opened fire on a UN vehicle.

1999

Angola

* June 15 – Two aid workers were killed when gunmen ambushed and robbed them.

Lesotho

* January – Irish aid worker Ken Hickey was robbed and murdered.

Serbia

* May 26 – Three aid workers, including Steve Pratt, were put on trial for spying Belgrade.

Somalia

* January 27 – A Kenyan aid worker was killed by gunmen.

South Sudan

* January 4 – Four ICRC staff were killed by the SPLA

Tajikistan

* October 2 – A French aid worker was killed.

2000

Afghanistan

* December 9 – Seven people working for the UN mine clearance programme were killed in an ambush.

Burundi

* December 30 – A British voluntary worker was one of 20 people killed by gunmen.

Ethiopia

* February 9 – A medical organisation suspended operations in parts of Ethiopia after the killing of a staff member.

Guinea

* September 17 – Killing of one UNHCR staff member and the abduction of another in Macenta.
* December 7 – Hundreds of people were killed after rebels destroyed a UNHCR centre.

Iraq

* June 28 – Two FAO workers were shot and killed in Baghdad.

Indonesia

* December 10 – Three aid workers were killed in Aceh.
* September 6 – Five UNHCR staff members, Samson Aregahegn (Supply Officer); Carlos Caceres-Collazo (Protection Officer); and Pero Simundza (Telecommunications Operator) and two Indonesians were killed when their office was attacked by militia in Atambua, Belu Regency, West Timor.

Rwanda

* March 2 – A Liberian Voluntary Humanitarian Samuel W. Sargbah was killed in his car in Kigali.

Sierra Leone

* June 19 – British aid worker Alan Smith was freed after being held for one month by the Revolutionary United Front.

Somalia

* January 3 – A local CARE staff was shot dead in an ambush in Balad.
* January 4 – A CARE worker was shot dead in an ambush North of Mogadishu.
* January 31 – Attacks on a convoy of aid vehicles left 20 people dead.

Sudan

* January 9 – Two CARE staff were killed and 2 went missing after an ambush.

South Sudan

* August 6 – Eight aid workers were killed when their vehicle was attacked near the border with Uganda.

2001

Afghanistan

* November 15 – Eight western aid workers were rescued after the Taliban imprisoned them on charges of spreading Christianity.

Chechnya

* April 18 – Aid worker Viktor Popkov was fatally wounded and two others injured in a shooting attack in Alkhan-Kala.

Democratic Republic of Congo

* April 27 – Six ICRC staff were killed.

Indonesia

* October 4 – Three people, including a Red Cross worker who had been tortured, were killed in Banda Aceh.

Somalia

* March 27 – The MSF compound was attacked by gunmen in Mogadishu.

Tajikistan

* June 16 – Kidnappers asked for the release of detained militants after taking a group of aid workers hostage.

2002

Dagestan

* August 12 – A Dutch MSF worker, Arjan Erkel, was abducted in Makhachkala. He was released 20 months later.

Somalia

* February 23 – A Swiss woman who ran a small aid agency was shot dead in Mogadishu.
* February 28 – A Somali UN worker was kidnapped in Mogadishu hours after the region was declared too dangerous for permanent UN presence.

West Bank

* March 4 – A PRCS ambulance was attacked by the IDF, causing the oxygen tanks to catch fire. A second ambulance sent to rescue the first was also attacked. Khalil Suleiman, head of PRCS emergency medical services, was killed and five other ambulance workers from both ambulances were injured.
* November 22 – Iain Hook, an UNRWA project manager from the UK, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in Jenin. Caoimhe Butterly, an Irish human rights activist, was also shot in the foot.

2003

Afghanistan

* November 16 – UNHCR staff person Bettina Goislard was shot dead by a motorcycle-borne gunman while travelling by car in Ghazni.
* March 24 – ICRC staff member Ricardo Munguia was shot and killed in an ambush north of Kandahar. He was working as a water engineer in Afghanistan and travelling with local colleague when their car was stopped by unknown armed men. He was killed execution-style at point-blank range while his colleagues were allowed to escape. The killing prompted the ICRC to temporarily suspend operations across Afghanistan.

Gaza Strip

* March 16 – Rachel Corrie an American member of ISM was killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer when attempting to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian's home.
* April 11 – Tom Hurndall was a British photography student and member of ISM who was killed by an IDF sniper. Hurndall was left in a coma and died nine months later. His killer Taysir Hayb was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for manslaughter and obstruction of justice but was released after serving six and a half years of his sentence.

Iraq

* August 19 – The Canal Hotel bombing targeted the UN headquarters and killed at least 24 people including UN Special Representative for Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello and aid worker Gillian Clark.
* October 27 – An attack on the ICRC building killed at least 12 people in Baghdad.

2004

Afghanistan

* February 26 – Five Afghans working for the Sanayee Development Foundation were killed when their vehicle was ambushed northeast of Kabul.
* April 28 – Two Afghan aid workers and a soldier were killed in an attack in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar.
* June 2 – Five staff working for Médecins Sans Frontières were killed on the road between Khairkhana and Qala e Naw in Badghis Province, resulting in the complete withdrawal of MSF from Afghanistan. The names of the murdered staff were: Hélène de Beir, Willem Kwint, Egil Tynaes, Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah.

Iraq

* March 15 – Larry Elliott, Jean Dover Elliott, Karen Denise Watson, and David McDonnall were killed in a drive-by shooting in Mosul. They were US missionaries for Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

Sudan

* October 10 – A Save the Children vehicle was hit by an anti-tank landmine in the Um Barro area in North Darfur. Two members of staff travelling in the vehicle were killed, namely Rafe Bullick (British, Programme Manager, North Darfur) and Nourredine Issa Tayeb (Sudanese, Water Engineer).

2005

Iraq

* April 16 – Marla Ruzicka, founder of the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), and her Iraqi translator, Faiz Ali Salim, were killed by a suicide car bombing on Airport Road in Baghdad.

South Sudan

* November 5 – Collin Lee, who worked for International Aid Services died when his jeep, containing his wife and driver, was ambushed by the LRA.

2006

Afghanistan

*March 4 — Mohammed Hashim, an employee of ''UN Human Settlements Programme'' (UN-HABITAT), was killed while monitoring project sites in Farah Province.
*May — Two Afghan staff members from ''United States Agency for International Development'' (USAID) and a driver were killed in a remote controlled bomb attack in Daraeem district.
*May 15 — Zmarai Azizi, an Afghan doctor working for ''Malteser International'' and his local driver Sirajuddin Noorzai, working for the ''United Nations Children’s Fund'' (UNICEF) were killed and one aid worker was seriously wounded when gunmen attacked their car in the Korkh district of western Herat province.
*May 30 — Three female Afghan employees of ''Action Aid'' and their driver were killed by Taliban in the northern province of Jowzjan .
*September 12 —Yar Mohammed, an employee of UN-HABITAT, was killed and a second man was injured by gunmen in the western province of Farah, near the village of Shoorab.

Sri Lanka

*May 15 – An employee of the Norwegian Refugee Council was shot dead on his way back from work in Vavuniya
*August 6 – 17 workers from the aid group Action Against Hunger were found murdered in Muttur. They were working on post- 2004 tsunami reconstruction. There had been fierce fighting in the area for more than a week. (See Muttur massacre.)

2007

Algeria

*December 11 – Ten United Nations staff died in a double car bombing in the capital, Algiers, which killed at least 26 people and injured 177.

Burundi

*December 31 – An Action Against Hunger vehicle was targeted by shooters in Ruyigi. Five people, including three female expatriate staff of Action Against Hunger, were inside the vehicle. One of them, a French psychologist, died upon arrival at the hospital in Gitega as a result of her injuries. The second victim suffered a gunshot wound. The third expatriate escaped uninjured.

Central African Republic

*June 11 – An MSF logistician was killed when her car was hit by gunfire during an assessment mission near Paoua

Lebanon

* June 11 – Two Lebanese Red Cross workers were killed during fighting between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. The perpetrator and cause of the deaths are disputed.

South Sudan

*January 10—A driver of the World Food Program was killed in an ambush.

Sri Lanka

*June 3 – Two local Red cross workers were abducted and murdered in Colombo.

Somalia

*December 26 – A nurse and a doctor working for MSF in Bossaso were abducted. After one week, they were released.
*March 23 – 2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash

Sudan,

Darfur

* between 1 January 2006 and 31 August 2007 – A total of 12 humanitarian workers were killed, including four working for the Sudanese government's water project.

2008

Afghanistan

* January 14 – Six people, including at least one aid worker from the USA named Thor Hesla, were killed in an attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul.
* January 26 – An aid worker and her Afghan driver were kidnapped in Kandahar, they are presumed dead.
* August 13 – Three female International Rescue Committee (IRC) workers and their local driver were killed in an ambush as they drove back to Kabul from Logar Province. One was an American national.
* October 20 – An aid worker with SERVE Afghanistan was killed as she walked to work in Kabul.

Chad

* May 1 – The country director of Save the Children UK was shot dead when his car was attacked near Hadjer Hadid.

Ethiopia

* September 22 – A nurse and a doctor working for Medecins du Monde were kidnapped in Fadhigaradle village (Somali Region) and taken across the border to Somalia. They were released 4 months late

Somalia

* January 28 – A surgeon, a logistician and a driver working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were killed when their convoy was attacked between the hospital and their base in Kismayo


* October 17 – A senior programme assistant for the World Food Programme (WFP) was shot and killed as he left a mosque in Merka.
* October 25 – A local worker with the aid agency Iida was killed as she returned from work in Gurilel.
* October 29 – The Hargeisa–Bosaso suicide bombings targeted government and UN buildings, which killed 30 people, including two UN staff.

Sri Lanka

* May 16 – A Batticaloa-based employee of the Norwegian Refugee Council was abducted while visiting Colombo and disappeared, presumed dead.

Tanzania

* June 30 – An Australian working with foodwatershelter was killed during a robbery in Arusha.

2009

Afghanistan

* October 28 – Five United Nations staff, two Afghan security personnel, and an Afghan civilian were killed by three Taliban attackers in an assault on the Bekhtar Guesthouse in Kabul. Nine other UN staff, also there working for the presidential election, were wounded.

Central African Republic

* November 22 – Two French aid workers employed by Triangle Generation Humanitaire were kidnapped in Birao and held for 4 months before being freed in Darfur.

Chad

* August 4 – A logistician working for MSF and his Chadian assistant were kidnapped in Ade. The Chadian was freed soon afterwards while the logistician was released a month late

Chechnya

* Two Chechen people, Chechen aid workers were kidnapped and murdered.

Gaza

* During Operation Cast Lead, Amnesty International reported that at least 7 Palestinian emergency medical workers were killed and 20 were injured in the line of duty by the Israel Defense Forces.

Somalia

* April 19 – Two MSF doctors were kidnapped and released 9 days later in Bakool

Pakistan

* October 5 – Three United Nations staff killed in a suicide bombing attack against the office of the World Food Programme in the capital city Islamabad by the Pakistani Taliban.

Sudan

* October 22 – A French ICRC delegate was kidnapped and released after 5 months in West Darfur

Tanzania

* An Irish people, Irish volunteer with the group Camara was killed during a suspected mugging in Zanzibar.

Yemen

* Several aid workers were kidnapped.

2010

Afghanistan

* March 27 — Said Anwar was shot and killed by gunmen.
* August 5 – On their way back to Kabul after a three week optometry expedition, ten International Assistance Mission aid workers were ambushed, robbed, and executed one by one in Badakhshan. Initially, the Taliban claimed responsibility, but as of 2011, the perpetrator was unknown. The team lead, optometrist Tom Little, was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
* September 26 — British aid worker Linda Norgrove and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by the Taliban. Norgrove died after sustaining injuries from a grenade thrown by US forces attempting to rescue her.
* December 24 — A German aid worker was killed and an Afghan colleague was injured on their way to Mazar-i-Sharif by the Taliban.

Chad

* June 6 – A logistician working for Oxfam GB was kidnapped in Abéché. He was rescued 10 days later by security forces near the border with Sudan.

Gaza Strip

* May 31 – During the Gaza flotilla raid, the Israeli navy killed 9 members of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla attempting to bring aid to the Gaza Strip and breach the Israeli naval blockade.

Pakistan

* March 10 — Six employees of World Vision were killed and six severely injured when their office in the Mansehra district was targeted for "running programs to help women" in the North-West Frontier Province. 15 gunmen stormed the office, started shooting, threw a bomb and left.

2011

Kenya

* October – Two Spanish women who worked for Médecins sans Frontières were kidnapped by gunmen in Dadaab and released in July 2013.

Nigeria

*August 26 – The United Nations Headquarters in Abuja was attacked by a suicide car bomber, killing at least 18 people, injuring dozens, and causing massive devastation to the building itself. Boko Haram claimed responsibility.

Somalia

* December 29 – A doctor and a logistician working for MSF were shot to death in their compound in Mogadishu.

Syria

*September 7 – An attack on an ambulance by unknown assailants injured three rescuers and the wounded patient it was transporting in Homs, one of the rescuers, Hakam Drak Sibai, died due to his wounds.
*December 23 – Two United Nations aid workers and a 3rd colleague were shot to death in Mataban, Hiran. The UN workers, who worked specifically for the World Food Program, had been monitoring the distribution of food and camps for internally displaced peoples. United Nations operations in Mataban were temporarily suspended.

2012

Kenya

* July – Two Norwegian Refugee Council vehicles were attacked while traveling in Dadaab refugee camp. A Kenyan driver was killed, and Steve Dennis and four other international staff were abducted for several days. After their rescue by a militia, Dennis sued Norwegian Refugee Council for negligence and was awarded 4.4 million Norwegian kroner.

Pakistan

* July 17 – UN polio vaccine doctor from Ghana was shot in Karachi. His driver was also injured.
* December 17 – A series of attacks occurred against a polio eradication program, killing five female health workers, including one teenage volunteer in Karachi and Peshawar.

Yemen

* June – A Yemeni staff member of the ICRC was killed in an air strike by the Yemeni Armed Forces in Abyan. According to his family, he had been working on a colleague's release from kidnappers.

2013

Afghanistan

* May 29 – An ICRC compound in Jalalabad was attacked by a suicide bomber and gunmen, resulting in the death of a guard and injuries to an employee.

South Sudan

* July 4 — Two employees of World Vision, Sabil Mansour and Ali Ibrahim were killed due to a grenade explosion at their compound near Nyala.

Yemen

* May – Three ICRC staff were kidnapped while working in Abyan and released after a few days.

Syria

* August 3 – Kayla Mueller was an American aid worker taken captive by ISIS in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria, after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital. In 2015, she was killed in uncertain circumstances.

2014

Afghanistan

*Two Finnish aid workers with the International Assistance Mission, a Christian medical charity, were shot and killed in Herat by two men on motorbikes. The women were in a taxi when shot.

Syria

*September – British aid worker David Cawthorne Haines was kidnapped near the Atmeh refugee camp in Idlib Province near the Turkish border. He was seized along with an Italian aid worker and two Syrians who were later freed. Haines was apparently executed by a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant called Mohammed Emwazi.
*October – Alan Henning was a British aid worker with Al-Fatiha Global who was kidnapped and killed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in a beheading video.

Ukraine

* An ICRC worker was killed by a shell in Donetsk.

2015

Afghanistan

*October 30 – The Kunduz hospital airstrike by the United States military killed 42 Médecins Sans Frontières staff and patients.

Bangladesh

* September – ISIS claimed responsibility for the killing of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella in Dhaka.

Yemen

* September – Two Yemeni ICRC staff were killed after a gunman fired on their convoy heading to Sanaa. As a result, the ICRC temporarily paused travel in Yemen.
* December – A French-Tunisian ICRC staff member was abducted on her way to work in Sanaa. A video of her requesting assistance from French President François Hollande and the ICRC was posted online a few months later. She was released in October 2016.

2016

Iraq

* December – Four Iraqi aid workers and several civilians were killed by mortar fire during aid distribution in Mosul.

Nigeria

* A humanitarian convoy was attacked in Borno State, and a UNICEF worker was injured.

Syria

* September 19 – A convoy of 31 trucks was attacked in Urum al-Kubra while unloading humanitarian aid organized by the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. According to the UN, Syrian government forces were responsible for the air strike, barrel bombs, and machine gun fire that killed 14 aid workers. The Syrian government denied involvement, blaming the attack on opposition forces.

2017

Afghanistan

* February – Six Red Cross members were killed and two were kidnapped by suspected members of the Islamic State in the northern province of Jowzjan. The kidnapped members were later released.
* September 10 – A Spanish Red Cross physiotherapist, Lorena Enebral Perez, was killed by one of her patients in Mazar-e Sharif.

Nigeria

* January 17 – Six aid workers were killed, 8 seriously wounded, and numerous civilians were killed following a government airstrike on a refugee camp in Rann, Borno State.

Somalia

* October 14 – Six aid workers were killed and 13 seriously wounded by a vehicle-borne IED in Mogadishu.

2018

Gaza

* June 1 — Rouzan al-Najjar, a Palestinian Medical Relief Society medic, was shot and killed by the Israeli military while trying to reach injured protesters during the 2018—2019 Gaza border protests.
* August 10 — Abed Abdullah Qotati, a volunteer paramedic with Nabd Al-Hayat, was shot and killed by the Israeli military along with the injured protester he was treating near the Gaza—Israel barrier.

Nigeria

* March 1 — Three humanitarian workers and eight security personnel were killed. Midwives Saifura Khorsa and Hauwa Liman, both working for ICRC, were kidnapped and murdered months later on September 16 and October 16 by Boko Haram. The nurse Alice Loksha, working for UNICEF, was also kidnapped and managed to escape in October 2024 after 6 years in captivity.

Yemen

* June — A Lebanese ICRC staff member was shot and killed by an unknown gunman in Taiz. He was traveling in a marked vehicle to work at a prison.

2019

Afghanistan

* November 24 – United Nations Development Programme aid workers were attacked and one, Anil Raj, was killed in Kabul.
* December 04 – Dr. Tetsu Nakamura and five other staff from Peace Japan Medical Services were shot and killed on their way to work in Jalalabad. Nakamura had agreed to travel with security guards after he was warned of a potential attack.

Gaza

* June — Mohammed Sobhi al-Judeili, a Palestinian Red Crescent Society paramedic, died from his injuries a month after being shot in the head by an Israeli sniper during the 2018—2019 Gaza border protests.

2020

Afghanistan

* May 12 – In the May 2020 Afghanistan attacks, gunmen targeted the maternity ward of Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, run by MSF, killing at least 24 people – including mothers, young children, and an MSF midwife.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

* September 16 — In an attack on a World Vision convoy, Mathieu Musharhamina Chengangu was killed and another staff person was seriously injured. Two staff were kidnapped, but their kidnappers let them go due to pressure from locals.

Niger

* July 19 – Five aid workers were executed by the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

* August 9 – In the Kouré shooting, six French ACTED aid workers, their Nigerian driver and a companion were killed by Islamic State – West Africa Province while visiting a giraffe reserve.

Nigeria

* Five aid workers of Action Against Hunger were abducted and later executed in Borno state by a group thought to be Islamic State – West Africa Province.

Syria

* February 18 – Syria Relief medic Ibrahim Saddo was killed in an airstrike in Idlib.
* February 19 – Two Oxfam workers, Wissam Hazim and Adel al-Halabi, were killed, and one volunteer was injured in an attack by an armed group in Daraa province.

Yemen

* In the Aden airport attack, at least three ICRC staff were killed and three more injured.

2021

Afghanistan

* June 8 — Eleven HALO Trust workers were killed and 15 others wounded during an attack by the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) in Baghlan.
* August — The United States Central Command attacked a crowded residential area in the August 2021 Kabul drone strike. The strike killed 10 members of an Afghan family, including Zemari Ahmadi, an aid worker for Nutrition & Education International who had applied for refugee status in the US. Initially, the US justified the strike, stating that Ahmadi was an ISIS-K militant planning to attack the airport. After an investigation by ''The New York Times'', the US called the strike a "tragic mistake", stating that Ahmadi had not been a threat.

Ethiopia

* May 29 – Ethiopian Negasi Kidane, staff member of CISP (International Committee for the Development of Peoples) was killed by a stray bullet in Tigray.
* June – Three MSF staff were killed while looking for injured people in the Tigray region. According to investigators, they were shot by the Ethiopian military because a commander did not want MSF staff to work in an active combat zone.

Madagascar

* December 7 – 23-year-old humanitarian worker Todisoa Andrinirina Fitiavana was killed in an attack while en route to oversee a food distribution by the World Food Programme (WFP) in the Amboasary district of southern Madagascar.

2022

Iran

* February 2022 to May 2023 – Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele was injured while detained on charges of espionage. According to his family and Amnesty International, he was held in "inhumane conditions" equivalent to torture. He was later released in a prisoner exchange.

Mali

* June 1 – Two Red Cross workers were killed when armed men on motorcycles shot at their clearly marked vehicle.

2023

Democratic Republic of the Congo

* November 13 — A humanitarian convoy of eight vehicles was attacked by armed men in the Fizi territory. Fifteen members from the NGOs Congo Handicap (CH) and Action Communautaire pour le Développement Durable (ACDD), along with two humanitarian workers, were kidnapped, and three of the vehicles were set on fire. The two humanitarian workers were released later that day.

Gaza

* October 11 – Israeli forces killed five IFRC members, including one Palestinian ambulance driver and four Palestinian paramedics, in Gaza in two separate instances.
* October 7 to November 2 – 72 UNRWA personnel were killed in Gaza. According to UNRWA, this is "the highest number of UN civilian aid workers killed in a conflict in such a short time, in recent history."

Israel

* October 7 – MDA (Magen David Adom) paramedic Amit Mann was a first responder and transported injured people from the Be’eri massacre to the local clinic. She was killed at the clinic by Palestinian gunmen. MDA paramedic Aharon Haimov was killed by Palestinian gunmen while driving an ambulance responding to emergency calls from the battle of Ofakim. Argentinian-Israeli and MDA volunteer Lior Rudaeff was killed during the Nir Yitzhak massacre. His body was kidnapped to Gaza by HAMAS. German-Israeli United Hatzalah member and MDA volunteer Dolev Yehud was killed by HAMAS during the Nir Oz massacre in line of duty. United Hatzalah reported that four of their volunteers were injured, including an Arab doctor who was shot and used as a human shield before being rescued by the IDF.

Mali

* March 4 – Two ICRC staff members were kidnapped and later released on March 20.

South Sudan

* November 6 — An aid worker was killed in Greater Pibor Administrative Area while responding to a suspected measles outbreak.
* November 11 — An employee of World Vision was killed in Warrap State.

Sudan

* December 10 — Two ICRC staff were killed and 7 injured during an attack on a aid convoy in Khartoum.

Ukraine

* January 6 — 47-year-old New Zealand volunteer Dr. Andrew Bagshaw and 28-year-old British aid worker Chris Parry were killed by gunshot wounds to the head and body in the Soledar region.
* February 2 — Pete Reed, the Ukraine country director for Global Outreach Doctors, was killed in a guided missile strike while helping to evacuate wounded civilians in Bakhmut.

Yemen

* September — A Save the Children staff member was held incommunicado by the Houthis. He died a month later while in detention.

2024

Democratic Republic of the Congo

* June 30 – Two aid workers of Tearfund were killed and several injured in an attack on their aid convoy near Butembo.
* September 19 – 36-year-old Dieudonné Barondezi, director of the local Caritas organization, was shot in the head by an armed militant group at a roadblock in Cholobero.

Ethiopia

* January to June – Five aid workers were killed, ten were assaulted, and eleven were kidnapped in the War in Amhara.
* August 14 – Ethiopian Yared Melese, a staff member of ASDEPO (Action for Social Development and Environmental Protection Organization), was kidnapped for ransom and killed by a criminal armed group in Dawunt Woreda.
* September 29 – Plan International member Teklemariam Tarekegn was killed in Debre Mewi, Amhara.

Gaza

*January 28 – Two Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) paramedics attempted to rescue Hind Rajab, a five year old girl who was stranded in a car with her relatives' bodies after they were killed by an Israeli tank. On February 10, the paramedics were found dead in their ambulance close to the car containing the dead bodies of Rajab and her family. According to a Forensic Architecture investigation, the Israeli military is responsible, but they have denied involvement.
*April 1 – An Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers and their Palestinian driver after entering Gaza to coordinate the transfer of food to a warehouse. After approving the route of the convoy, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted three vehicles consecutively with three missiles. WCK accused the IDF of deliberately targeting the convoy "car by car", and the IDF claimed they had mistakenly targeted an aid worker they thought was a Palestinian gunman.
*September 26 – Islam Hijazi, director of Heal Palestine, was killed by three Palestinian gunmen near a hospital in Khan Younis.
*November 17 – UNRWA reported that 97 of 109 aid trucks entering Gaza were attacked and looted by Palestinian gunmen, causing injuries to staff, near Israeli military installations at the Kerem Shalom crossing. Aid workers, locals, and others stated that Hamas was not involved in the increase in looting, instead attributing it to rival gangs and Israeli targeting of convoy security guards.
*November 30 – Israeli strikes killed multiple aid workers from organizations including Save the Children, World Central Kitchen, and Gaza Soup Kitchen

Mali

*October 14 – An MSF team was attacked and robbed by armed men in the Segou region.

Niger

* October – Two aid workers were captured and later executed by Boko Haram.
* December 19 – Two aid workers were captured and later executed by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) near Zari town in Borno State.

Somalia

*April 4 – Turkish aid worker Abdurrahim Yörük and a local aid worker (both working for Verenel Derneği) were killed by Al-Shabaab. They were delivering food aid to a displaced persons camp in Mogadishu when a improvised explosive device (IED) killed them.

Sudan

*May 2 – Two ICRC drivers were shot and killed in South Darfur. Three ICRC aid workers suffered serious injuries but survived the incident.
*May 23 – Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) volunteer Bashir Shuaib was killed.
*April 27 – Three Sudanese World Food Programme staff members named Osman Ali, Siddig Mohammed, and Yousif Elzain were killed in a remote area in North Darfur.
*June – Voluntary aid worker Abdul Rahman Al-Hadi Adlan was detained and later killed by Rapid Support Forces in Kabkabiya.
*June 11 – Eight aid workers were killed in North Dafur.
*July 1 – Three UN World Food Programme (WFP) trucks on their way to Central Darfur were attacked and looted by armed men.
*December 19 – Three members of the World Food Programme were killed in an airstrike that hit their field office in Yabus, Blue Nile state.
*January to October – The deaths of 25 aid workers have been recorded in the Sudanese civil war (2023–present).

Syria

*December 1 – Three local workers from Shafak and IYD were killed near Aleppo.

Ukraine

*February 1 – Two HEKS/EPER workers were killed and 4 injured when their vehicle was attacked in Beryslav, Khersonska Oblast.
*September 12 – Three ICRC members were killed at an aid distribution site in Viroliubivka.
*December 2023 to November 2024 – 378 attacks and 65 deaths have been recorded during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Yemen

* June – OHCHR reported that over 60 Yemeni workers from the UN and other NGOs were arrested by the Houthis. They joined at least four UN workers who have been detained since 2021 and 2023. The Houthis claimed to have arrested members of an "American-Israeli spy network" and released videos of ten Yemeni people confessing to being spies. OHCHR said that one of the videos depicted a staff member and that the confession was forced.

2025

Afghanistan

* January – Thirty-four humanitarian workers were arrested by the Taliban.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

* February 5 – Three local HEKS/EPER employees were attacked and killed in the Rutshuru Territory of North Kivu. As a result, the Swiss aid organization temporarily suspended all activities in the region.
* February 20 – 49-year-old Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) member Jerry Muhindo Kavali was shot during an attack on his organization's base in Masisi. He died two days later in a hospital in Goma.

Gaza

* January – WFP reported that the Israeli military fired at least 16 bullets at their aid convoy. The attack was condemned by Cindy McCain on X.
* March 19 – The UN reported that the Israeli military attacked their compound in Deir al-Balah, killing a Bulgarian staff member and seriously injuring six other staff. The staff were members of the United Nations Mine Action Service. The UN called for an independent investigation and removed 30% of their international staff from Gaza. The Israeli military denied responsibility for the attack.
* March 27 – World Central Kitchen reported that the Israeli military attacked one of its food distribution programs during meal time. The attack killed one of its volunteers and injured six other people.
* March 30 – The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that 9 of their staff were missing after their ambulances were attacked by the Israeli military in Rafah. The bodies of 8 of the PRCS staff were later recovered in a mass grave along with their ambulances and the bodies of 6 other emergency responders and an UNRWA worker. One PRCS staff person was missing from the grave. The Israeli military said they had targeted Hamas fighters. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Rafah paramedic massacre was the deadliest attack on their workers since 2017.

Niger

* January – A 73-year-old Austrian aid worker named Eva Gretzmacher was kidnapped by gunmen in Agadez city. Gretzmacher lived in the city for more than 20 years and worked with various organizations.

Sudan

* January 10 – An MSF ambulance was attacked while transporting a woman in labor to a hospital. One female caretaker was shot and died.
* February 1 – Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) volunteer Iman Abbas was killed by artillery shelling at the Sabreen open market in Omdurman.
* February 11 to 14 – Two aid workers were killed in attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at the Zamzam Refugee Camp.

Yemen

* January – Seven UN workers have been detained after the US president reclassified the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organizations. As a consequence of the detainment of their workers, the UN has suspended its movements into and within Houthi-held areas. On February 10, one member of the UN World Food Programme died in prison.

Further reading

* (2025) Insecurity Insight: "The Sudan Crisis: How Over a Year of Violence and Humanitarian Access Restrictions Have Produced Famine Conditions" Switzerland: Insecurity Insight. bit.ly/SDNFoodJan2025

See also

* International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
* Killing of health workers in the Gaza war
* Monument to Canadian Aid Workers
* World Humanitarian Day

References

External links

IRC Suspends Activity in Afghanistan after the Murder of Four Employees
Central Asia Health Review. Aug. 14, 2008

UNHCR Report on Atambua killings


* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070912223027/http://www.reliefweb.int/symposium/2002_symposium/PayingUltimatePrice97-01.html Paying the Ultimate Price: Analysis of the deaths of humanitarian aid workers (1997–2001)]

Security Advice for Aid Workers (Aid Workers Network)

ECHO Generic Security Guide for Humanitarian Organisations


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060811060411/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/co_publi_pdf/2005/2005-no_relief-full_text.pdf Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and Small Arms Survey
Protect Interpreters from Threats, Kidnapping, Injury, Death and Imprisonment

Christine Witcutt Memorial Fund

RedR UK – an international NGO that provides recruitment, training and support services for humanitarian professionals across the worldCentre for Safety and Development

HPG -Providing aid in insecure environments: trends in policy and operations

HPG In the Line of Fire

HPG No Relief

ALNAP The State of the Humanitarian System

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