A local Red Cross worker was killed today in renewed shelling of Tamil Tiger-held territory in northeast Sri Lanka, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.
The only hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone was shelled for the second time in two days in an attack that killed at least 15 people, including the volunteer health worker, and wounded 40 others, a doctor at the facility said.
The Sri Lankan military has denied firing heavy weapons in recent weeks as it pushes to finish off the Tamil Tiger rebels, though human rights groups and international officials say the government has continued artillery attacks.
The area around the hospital came under heavy shelling at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dr. V. Shanmugarajah said by telephone. One shell landed in an administrative office of the hospital while another hit a ward filled with patients already wounded by previous attacks, he said.
The attack killed 15 to 20 people and wounded 40 others, he said.
A second hospital official confirmed the attack, but spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized by the government to speak to the media. He said he was not aware of the death toll from the attack.
The hospital's admissions ward was hit by a mortar round yesterday in an attack that killed 49 patients and bystanders, health officials said.
Rebel spokesman Seevaratnam Puleedevan said the shelling also hit a home for mentally handicapped women, killing 38 and wounding more than 40. The health officials said they were not able to confirm that attack.
The government has come under heavy international criticism for the large civilian toll in its offensive against the Tamil Tigers. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the conflict zone "as close to hell as you can get," and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed alarm at the civilian casualties.
The US-based group Human Rights Watch said satellite images of the war zone along with witness accounts indicated the government had continued shelling the area, despite its repeated denials.
AP
