Fifty patients killed in cluster bomb attack on Sri Lanka hospital
At least 52 people were killed by shelling in Sri Lankan's war zone, while a crowded hospital was hit by cluster bombs and Britain and the United States urged a ceasefire.
Another 80 people were wounded in Wednesday’s fighting between Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan army. Some had been inside a government declared ‘safe zone.’
Cluster bombs were dropped in a second attack on the last functioning hospital in the north of the island. At least nine people died and 20 were injured when shells hit the children's ward of Puthukkudiyiruppu, hospital on Sunday night. "There were 52 killed and 80 wounded from one sector," said United Nations spokesman Gordon Weiss, Reuters news agency reported. "That was like a snapshot of the war zone."
A dozen hospital patients were among those killed in the shelling, which both sides deny came from them, although reports suggest air strikes were used against the hospital. Weiss said he did not know who was responsible for shelling. Almost all the remaining wards have been evacuated. David Miliband the UK foreign secretary joined US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to call for a temporary ceasefire to allow casualties out and aid into the war zone. They said "both sides need to allow civilians and wounded to leave the conflict area and to grant access for humanitarian agencies,” the Guardian reported.
Tuesday’s announcement came after four of Sri Lanka's key foreign backers – the US, Japan, EU, and Norway – called on the rebels to negotiate terms of surrender to avoid further killing. The group said it would probably not be long before the rebels lost all territory they control and that both sides "should recognise that further loss of life... will serve no cause", the UN said.
The Tamil Tigers started fighting in the 1970s for a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east. They argued that the Tamils had been discriminated against by successive majority Sinhalese governments. They are categorised as a terrorist group in many countries.
The latest casualties came the day Sri Lanka celebrated independence from former ruler Britain.
There are five SOS Children’s Villages in Sri Lanka. After the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, the SOS Social Centre at the Village in Batticaloa played an important role in the extensive emergency relief programme carried out by SOS Children. SOS Children set up 10 child relief centres and temporary schools along the southern and eastern coast of Sri Lanka, providing clean water, food, medical care and schooling for thousands of children.
Written by Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children
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