HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL CONCERNED AT FATAL SHELLING OF HOSPITAL
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator's spokesman, Gordon Weiss today expressed concern over a northeastern hospital that has been shelled numerous times over a 24-hour period, including at midday today. The shelling resulted in the killing of 11 people altogether, including one nurse.
Weiss said that it is uncertain where the shellfire came from but that his office had notified both parties about what has been going on. Unfortunately, this has not seemed to bring an end to the artillery strikes, he added.
The hospital, which is located in the Mullaithivu District, has around 600 patients, with new people arriving all the time. Hundreds of those are critically injured and can't be treated. The International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to negotiate a new convoy out of the area and into Government-controlled territory, where the patients can be treated properly, according to Weiss.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme is continuing negotiations with the Government to secure an adequate window for the next humanitarian convoy into the area. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), no convoy has gotten in since last week.
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