TWO aid workers have been shot and killed in separate attacks in South Sudan, a country ranked as one of the most dangerous in the world for charity staff. At least 98 have been killed since civil war broke out in the country in 2013, most of them local employees of aid organisations.

One of those shot last week worked for a partner agency of Christian Aid, UNIDO.

In a statement, Christian Aid condemned the attack: “Last weekend a staff member of UNIDO, one of Christian Aid’s partners in South Sudan, was shot and killed near Leer in Unity, where they had been working in a health facility.

“In a separate attack, a staff member of Hope Restoration, an organisation close to Christian Aid, was killed in Bentiu, also in Unity.

“Christian Aid is deeply saddened by this news, and condemns in the strongest possible terms the killing of two aid workers who had dedicated themselves to serving the people of South Sudan.

“Local aid workers from national NGOs are at the frontline of providing humanitarian response in South Sudan and play a critical role in enabling aid to reach the hardest to reach areas.”

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan — the world’s newest country, which was formed only in 2011 — has forced four million people to flee their homes, and left five million more in need of humanitarian assistance.