Tamil rebels claim army shelling hospital in Sri Lanka (Roundup)

May 12, 2009, 12:32 GMT

   Colombo - At least 47 civilians were killed in an artillery attack on a hospital in north-eastern Sri Lanka Tuesday as the plight of the non-combatants complicated the fighting between government forces and rebels, pro-rebel media and medical sources from the area said.

   Pro-rebel media claimed that a makeshift hospital in the Mullivaaykkaal area in the north-eastern district of Mullaitivu was hit by artillery shells fired by the army, a claim strongly denied by the government side.

   A hospital administrative officer was among the civilians killed in the attack on Tuesday morning.

'The time was very busy and many injured civilians were waiting to get their morning treatment,' Dr T Sathiyamoorthy, a former regional director of health services now based in the area held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said in an email.

'Injured civilians relatives were on the way to hospital and some were busy with getting their morning meal. A shell hit in front of the admission ward. Twenty-six people died on the spot and few died after.'

   'If further attacked, then almost all services will be paralyzed; then thousands of patients will suffer and many of their lives will not be saved,' he added.

   A military spokesman denied the claim, saying that the military had not fired shells into the hospital area.

   The government said earlier that the doctors working in the rebel-controlled area were being forced to make statements in favour of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

   The claims came just two days after more than 400 civilians were killed around the same area as security forces carried out operations to crush the Tamil rebels who are reported to be confined in a coastal area of 6 square kilometres along with at least 20,000 civilians.

   Earlier Tuesday government troops entered a 'safety zone' which has been demarcated for civilians fleeing the rebel-held area in an effort to rescue more civilians trapped in the conflict zone, a government minister said.

   Defence spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters that troops have entered the safety zone amidst resistance LTTE resistance on Tuesday.

   Some 90 more civilians were rescued by the military on Tuesday.

   Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said that troops advancing from two fronts towards the safety zone met with resistance from the rebels and killed 25 rebels in one location and another 10 in another location.

   He said that rebels set off three suicide explosions as well. The spokesman did not comment whether the military suffered casualties.

    The military and the LTTE have traded allegations as to who was responsible for the killing of the civilians.

   Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels to avoid further civilian casualties in the conflict in the north of the country.

   'The secretary-general is appalled at the killing of hundreds of civilians in Sri Lanka over the weekend,' a statement from his office said.

   'The secretary-general urges the government of Sri Lanka to explore all possible options to bring the conflict to an end without further bloodshed and to make public the terms under which that can be achieved without further loss of civilian life, and for the LTTE to give sober and positive consideration of those terms,' the statement said.

   Earlier the government said it would not use heavy weapons in the operation which they say is aimed at rescuing some 20,000 civilians trapped in the area.

   UN agencies say the number civilians in the narrow strip of land along the coastal area of Mullaitivu, 395 kilometres north-east of the capital, is around 50,000.

   The UN statement said the secretary-general has repeatedly called on both sides to stop using heavy calibre weapons in areas with high civilian concentrations.

   The International Committee of the Red Cross has sent a ship with 30 metric tons of food for the civilians in the rebel-held area, but by noon the ship had not been able to get close to the coast for unloading due to the ongoing fighting, ICRC sources in Colombo said.

   The ship is expected to carry back some of the injured as they have been doing in the past. Doctors in the conflict zone say they lack medicine to treat the injured.

   The number of wounded was estimated at more than 1,200 since Sunday.

   UNICEFs Regional Director for South Asia Daniel Toole in a statement said that many more children may be killed if the current government offensive continues and if the LTTE refuses to allow     civilians to leave the conflict zone.

   'The UN secretary general has made it clear that the world is watching this crisis closely. This latest surge in fighting is a catastrophe for children and shows a complete disregard for these most vulnerable of civilians,' said Toole.

   Government troops say they are in the final phase of ending a major military operation aimed at crushing the rebels as well as rescuing civilians from the guerrillas.

The LTTE has been fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils for more than 25 years.