Official: 300 wounded in Sri Lanka artillery fire

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Las Vegas Sun

The Associated Press

Mon, Jan 26, 2009 (10:30 p.m.)

A Sri Lankan health official says more than 300 civilians are wounded and scores feared killed by artillery shells fired into a government-designated "safe zone" for ethnic Tamil civilians trapped by fighting between the government and Tamil rebels.

A Web site favoring the Tamil Tiger rebels, TamilNet, meanwhile reports that more than 300 civilians have been killed by government artillery fire into the safe zone in northern Sri Lanka through Monday.

The health official _ speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the government _ said Tuesday that it remains difficult to obtain a full account of the casualty toll in the 13.5 square mile (35 square kilometer) area near Mullaittivu.

He did not say whether he believed the shelling came from the rebel side or the government side.

Neither the TamilNet report nor the account of the health official could immediately be confirmed. Journalists are barred from the war zone.

Military spokesman Brig.Udaya Nanayakkara denies that civilians have been targeted in the fighting and says any civilian victims would have been people mixed together with the rebels, or civilians pressed into service by the insurgents to build fortifications.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan/26/official-300-wounded-in-sri-lanka-artillery-fire/