Red Cross staff member killed in Sri Lanka
April 9th, 2009 - 12:30 pm ICT by IANSGeneva, April 9 (Xinhua) A staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been killed in Sri Lanka’s conflict area, the Geneva-based organisation said.
Sinnathurai Kugathasan was working for ICRC since 2002 as a water technician. He was hit by a shell Wednesday and killed instantly while fetching water in Ampalavanpokanai, on the coastal belt of the territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ICRC said in a statement.
Kugathasan was married and has three children.
On March 4, Vadivel Vijayakumar, another ICRC water technician, was also killed by shrapnel in the coastal area.
Despite the incidents, the ICRC continues its essential activities to help conflict-
affected people throughout the country, the organisation said.
The LTTE rebels have been fighting with Sri Lankan military for over two decades in order to set up a separate homeland for the minority Tamil community in the country.
More than 70,000 people have been killed since the mid-1980s in one of the world’s longest civil wars.
- Red Cross member killed in Sri Lanka's war-zone - Mar 05, 2009
- LTTE regrouping to hit back at India, says ban order (Lead) - May 17, 2010
- LTTE front groups run weekend schools in Holland: Report - Oct 04, 2011
- Colombo, Tamil diaspora flayed in UN report - Apr 27, 2011
- Credible allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka war: UN report - Apr 26, 2011
- India wanted LTTE 'put in its place': Norway report - Nov 11, 2011
- AIADMK unhappy with PM over Sri Lanka (Lead) - Mar 14, 2012
- Sri Lanka welcomes foreign aid - May 19, 2012
- Sri Lanka admits civilian deaths during separatist war - Aug 02, 2011
- Nine killed in Sri Lanka as hospital shelled - Feb 02, 2009
- Human rights body protests atrocities on Lankan Tamils - Apr 05, 2012
- LTTE tells India it is not trying to regroup - Nov 12, 2010
- India votes for US resolution on Sri Lanka (Lead) - Mar 22, 2012
- Solheim to visit Sri Lanka -- to mend fences - Oct 18, 2010
- Both Sri Lankan govt, Tamil Tigers committed 'human rights abuses': Wikileaks - Dec 18, 2010
Tags: civil wars, coastal area, coastal belt, conflict, cross icrc, cross staff, decades, geneva, international committee, liberation tigers of tamil eelam, liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte, ltte rebels, mid 1980s, minority tamil community, red cross, shell, shrapnel, staff member, vijayakumar, xinhua