2 civilians killed in SLA shelling in Vadmaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 August 2008, 08:00 GMT]
A 45-year-old father of three and a 30-year-old father of one were killed Wednesday morning when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells targeted civilian settlements, fishing huts and the stretch along the coast in Vettilaikkea'ni in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled Vadamaraadchi East of Jaffna district. One civilian was wounded in the shelling and rushed to hospital, according to initial reports from Vadamaraadchi East.

The victims were part of a group of 15 fishermen, who were engaged in fishing when the shelling targeted the coastal stretch around 7:30 a.m.

Ratnam Ganesalingam, 45, and Thagavel Puvanenthirarajah, 30, were killed and K. Gopalakrishnasamy, 55, father of seven, was wounded in the shelling.

Four boats and two catamarans (kaddumaram) were destroyed in the shelling.

The SLA targeted Iyakkachchi and Pazhai in Pachchilaippa'l'li division of Ki'linochchi district with an artillery barrage from 4:00 a.m. to 5:20 a.m.