Catholic nun claims shot at by LTTE, while evacuating sick people

Quoting a Catholic nun who was trying to evacuate sick people in a non-liberated village in the Mullaittivu District in Northern Sri Lanka, Al Jazeera television channel reported that LTTE terrorists shot at the sick people in a bid to stop them from leaving.

"When we tried to escape with civilians, LTTE fired at me. I got shot in my leg," sister Louise, a Catholic nun who tried to steer civilians away from the fighting, from Puttumatalan village was quoted having said on January 12.

Al Jazeera further said that the LTTE terrorists have shot at injured civilians fleeing fighting in Sri Lanka's northern war zone, quoting other witnesses who have escaped the island.

The alleged attack by LTTE came as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) tried to evacuate sick and wounded people by boat from Puttumatalan, a village with intensified terrorist activity recently.

"When we tried to escape with civilians, LTTE fired at me. I got shot in my leg," sister Louise, a Catholic nun who tried to steer civilians away from the fighting, said on February 12. The ICRC said it managed to ferry out 240 sick and injured people from Puttumatalan with the assistance of the Sri Lankan Navy.

Exclusive footage broadcast by Al Jazeera on Thursday showed people attempting to flee the war torn area with the help of the aid organisation. The ICRC said the deaths of 16 patients by LTTE artillery fire three days ago highlighted the dangers faced by civilians in the war zone.

Sister Mary Colostica, a 74-year-old Catholic nun, said she was shot at as she tried to shepherd more than 2,000 civilians from village to village, Al Jazeera reported.

"When we tried to leave, the LTTE didn't allow civilians to leave and said only we [the nuns] can leave ... so we stayed back with the civilians," she said from a hospital in Trincomalee, the eastern port where she and the others were taken by the ICRC, the television channel further said.

The civilians were treated at a makeshift field hospital before moving towards Puttumatalan to escape from LTTE, who are now resorting to brutal reprisal attacks against civilians for defying the outfit's orders to stay in the conflict zone.

(By: Walter Jayawardhana)