Shelling kills farmer

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 November 2000, 11:37 GMT]
A young farmer was killed when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers stationed at Monkey Bridge fired shells towards Soodaikudah, a village in the Mutur Division, south of Trincomalee Monday afternoon, said sources.

The farmer was identified as Balasingham Kugarajah (25), father of one child. He was relaxing with a cup of tea in a house after working in his paddy field when he was hit by a shell. He died on the spot, the sources said.

The security forces in Muttur area Tuesday morning refused to allow personnel from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the affected village, the sources said.

The ICRC on Monday re-opened its office at Mutur, which was closed on 2 October after a group of demonstrators smashed vehicles parked inside the office premises.

ICRC sources said that organisation's office at Mutur would handle all humanitarian work as usual with effect from Monday.