SUDAN: July was the most dangerous month for humanitarian workers in Darfur since the conflict began 3½ years ago, according to charities working in Sudan.
In a statement released yesterday, they said conditions had worsened since a peace deal was signed in May jeopardising deliveries of food and medicine to 2.5 million people sheltering in camps.
Eight workers were killed in July - all Sudanese - making it the bloodiest month for aid agencies since rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government.
More have died in the past two weeks than in the past two years.
Meanwhile, a further 25,000 civilians have been displaced from their homes in a renewed wave of attacks on villages.
Paul Smith-Lomas, Oxfam's regional director in Sudan, said: "The targeting of humanitarian workers is completely unacceptable. Since the signing of the agreement, Darfur has become increasingly tense and violent, which has led to the tragic deaths of far too many civilians and aid workers."
Only one of three rebel negotiating factions signed the African Union-brokered deal in May.
Tens of thousands of Darfuris have protested against the agreement, raising tensions between the different factions in the squatter camps.
Half of July's deaths were in the camps where angry victims of the war have vented frustration on aid workers and African Union forces deployed to protect them.
Yesterday's statement, signed by Oxfam, Care, World Vision and the International Rescue committee, concluded: "The agencies call upon those responsible for protecting civilians and creating a secure environment for aid operations, particularly the African Union, to prioritise having a 24-hour presence and regular patrols in areas around the camps."
Some 14,000 aid workers - 1,000 of them international staff - are deployed in Sudan's western region of Darfur.