[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 04:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a civilian settlement near Murugananda school in Murasumoaddai on Paranthan - Mullaiththeevu Road killing two females of a family and a male on the spot. Another man, who was seriously wounded, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. 14 civilians, including a couple, were wounded. The attack has targeted three civilian settlements in Murasumoaddai Wednesday around 8:00 a.m. The indiscriminate bombardment on fleeing civilians, Internally Displaced Person's huts, close to the ICRC Karaichchi branch office, a school, temple and agricultural lands aims at instilling fear at the minds of the civilians in Vanni, observers said.
A motorcyclist escaped with wounds, but his bike was thrown 70 meters away from the road.
Medical Superintendent of Vanni's main hospital at Tharmapuram, Dr. S. Sathiyamoorthy, has placed the hospital and the surrounding area on red alert for blood shortage as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery attack on the village after the carnage by the SLAF.
The Sri Lankan air strike targeted civilian houses behind Murugananda school, two settlements of refugees, one at Chelliah Shop Junction and the other behind Cheaththukka'ndi Amman temple at Murasumoaddai. A few hours later, the SLAF fighter jets returned to the same village and dropped bombs while a cow herder, was moving away with his cows from Paranthan to his native village, Tharmapuram. Two others were also wounded in the second bombardment.
The cow herder wounded in the second bombardment was identified as Mayalaku Vijayaratnam, 24. The other two civilians wounded were Nadarasa Thavanesan, 36, and Columbus, 24,
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old male, T. Sasikaran, was seriously injured when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells targeting settlements in 2nd Mile Post. Mr. Sasikaran wounded in his head was rushed to hospital in unconscious state. A 37-year-old civlian identified as Kannan was also wounded.
24-year-old Juda Margarat Aseervatham, 55-year-old Asservaatham Maryamma and Markandu Sivanandan were killed on the spot.
52-year-old Chandrabose, one of the 14 wounded who were admitted at Tharmapuram hospital, succumbed to his injuries at the Intensive Care Unit.
The wounded civilians in the first bombardment on three localities were identified as I. Nirmalan, 15, S. Ragulan, 21, Arumaiththurai Jesinald, 26, Ramachandran Kumanan, 30, Selvarajah Kulendran, 33, K. Jeyasri, 38, Somasundaram Chandrakumar, 43, Annakkodi Chandramary, 45, Vellaichamy Annakkodi, 49, S. Balasundaram, 51, Palaniayappan Subramaniyam, 52, Ranjithamalar, 58, and Saravana Bavananthan, 62.
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a civilian settlement near Murugananda school in Murasumoaddai on Paranthan - Mullaiththeevu Road killing two females of a family and a male on the spot. Another man, who was seriously wounded, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. 14 civilians, including a couple, were wounded. The attack has targeted three civilian settlements in Murasumoaddai Wednesday around 8:00 a.m. The indiscriminate bombardment on fleeing civilians, Internally Displaced Person's huts, close to the ICRC Karaichchi branch office, a school, temple and agricultural lands aims at instilling fear at the minds of the civilians in Vanni, observers said.
A motorcyclist escaped with wounds, but his bike was thrown 70 meters away from the road.
Medical Superintendent of Vanni's main hospital at Tharmapuram, Dr. S. Sathiyamoorthy, has placed the hospital and the surrounding area on red alert for blood shortage as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery attack on the village after the carnage by the SLAF.
A patient seriously wounded in his head, being rushed to the hospital at Tharmapuram by volunteers
A civilian volunteer bringing a seriously wounded mother
A wounded female being rushed to hospital
Sri Lanka Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, in an interview to Business Today on December 11, 2008, said: "We have been exemplary in adhering to the policy of Zero Damage to Civilians." According Fonseka, there were only 24 civilians confirmed killed in the two and a half year war.
The cow herder wounded in the second bombardment was identified as Mayalaku Vijayaratnam, 24. The other two civilians wounded were Nadarasa Thavanesan, 36, and Columbus, 24,
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old male, T. Sasikaran, was seriously injured when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells targeting settlements in 2nd Mile Post. Mr. Sasikaran wounded in his head was rushed to hospital in unconscious state. A 37-year-old civlian identified as Kannan was also wounded.
24-year-old Juda Margarat Aseervatham, 55-year-old Asservaatham Maryamma and Markandu Sivanandan were killed on the spot.
52-year-old Chandrabose, one of the 14 wounded who were admitted at Tharmapuram hospital, succumbed to his injuries at the Intensive Care Unit.
The wounded civilians in the first bombardment on three localities were identified as I. Nirmalan, 15, S. Ragulan, 21, Arumaiththurai Jesinald, 26, Ramachandran Kumanan, 30, Selvarajah Kulendran, 33, K. Jeyasri, 38, Somasundaram Chandrakumar, 43, Annakkodi Chandramary, 45, Vellaichamy Annakkodi, 49, S. Balasundaram, 51, Palaniayappan Subramaniyam, 52, Ranjithamalar, 58, and Saravana Bavananthan, 62.
An elderly civilian wounded in SLAF bombardment
Medical staff attending the wounded at Tharmapuram hospital
SLAF bombardment close to the Karaichchi branch office
of the ICRC. A cow killed in the air strike is lying in front
of the office with ICRC flags and markings.
of the ICRC. A cow killed in the air strike is lying in front
of the office with ICRC flags and markings.
A heavily loaded land master is passing the site bombed
by SLAF. Many refugees were fleeing from SLA shelling
in Paranthan area amid SLAF bombardment.
by SLAF. Many refugees were fleeing from SLA shelling
in Paranthan area amid SLAF bombardment.
Bombed locality at Murasumoaddai
A house damaged in SLAF bombardment
A crater near an IDP hut
Another crater on the side of the Paranthan Road
A motorbike hit by bomb shrapnels
Indiscriminate bombardment by SLAF on Murasumoaddai
SLAF bombs also hit agricultural lands
A crater alongside Paranthan Mullaiththeevu Road
Civilians fleeing SLA shellilng
A wounded civilian at Tharmapuram hospital
Tharmapuram hospital received around 20 wounded from SLAF air strikes and SLA shelling on Wednesday
A mother killed in SLAF bombardment
A male killed in SLAF bombardment in Murasumoaddai
Another man killed on the spot at Murasumoaddai in the indiscriminate bombardment on civlians
A woman killed on the spot