JUBA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency on Tuesday called for increased protection for aid workers in Maban area of South Sudan after Sunday's targeting of an international relief agency by armed men.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) strongly condemned the latest senseless act against aid workers who were there to improve the lives of refugees and vulnerable South Sudanese nationals.
"UNHCR calls for enhanced respect for international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and humanitarian workers from violence and to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice immediately," said the UN agency in a statement.
The devastating attack happened early on Sunday when armed men broke into an NGO compound in Bunj town in Upper Nile's Maban County, severely assaulted staff of Relief International and robbed others of their cash and personal valuables.
The assaulted staff members have since been treated in hospital and are currently receiving counseling.
According to UNHCR, the past few months have seen an increase in attacks on aid workers in the country.
It said the Sunday's violence happened only a month after three United Nations staff working in South Sudan's Central Equatoria region were killed.
The UN refugee agency said the world's youngest country has remained among the world's most violent places to deliver aid.
"Ensuring the safety and security of aid workers in South Sudan has now become a major challenge. This continuously hampers humanitarian action for some of the world's most desperate people," it said.
At least 115 aid workers have been killed since the start of the conflict in December 2013. Most have been South Sudanese nationals, said the UN.
