Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded in 'safety z...

Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded in 'safety zone' [TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 15:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up indiscriminate artillery barrage towards the heart of 'safety zone' since Thursday noon killing at least 44 civilians and causing injuries to 178, initial reports from Vanni said. The shelling has targeted Chuthanthirapuram 100-housing scheme, where at least 8 civilians were reported killed. Five civilians were killed near St. Antony's Church in Chuthanthirapuram.

The indiscriminate shelling has targeted also Maa'nikkapuram and Iruddumadu.

Further details were not available at the moment.