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Attacks Targeting Aid Workers in Niger Are Latest in Worrying Spike

Lisa Bryant

   PARIS - New findings out Monday show an alarming spike in attacks
   against humanitarian workers last year, including in part of Africa's
   Sahel region. That's where some of the latest attacks took place last
   week against French and Nigerien nationals.

   France held a memorial ceremony Friday for six French aid workers
   killed in Niger on August 9, along with two Nigeriens. It was one of a
   pair of strikes against French humanitarian activists last week-- last
   Monday, another was gunned down in Guatemala.

   The Niger attack took place in a nature reserve outside the capital,
   Niamey -- an area once considered safe for humanitarian activity. But
   the Sahel region overall is becoming increasingly violent. French
   troops are working with regional counterparts to fight an Islamist
   insurgency.

   It's not the only area of concern. Worldwide, last year marked the
   highest number of major attacks against aid workers over the past
   decade -- with 483 workers killed, kidnapped and wounded, according to
   independent research group Humanitarian Outcomes.

   Report co-author Abby Stoddard is a former humanitarian worker.

   "Even though there are attacks in dozens of countries, only a handful
   of the worst conflict environments have numbers in the double and
   triple digits, and those drive the totals," Stoddard said.

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