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Ponnampalam Memorial hospital bombing

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Ponnampalam Memorial hospital
LocationPuthukudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu District, Sri Lanka
Date6 February 2009
Attack type
Artillery fire, and
aerial attack
WeaponsArtillery, aircraft fire
Deaths61
PerpetratorsSri Lankan Airforce and Sri Lankan army

Ponnampalam Memorial hospital is located in Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu District.It was run by the LTTE in rebel controlled areas.[1][2] It was bombed by the Sri Lankan airforce and the hospital was destroyed.[3][4][5] Human Rights Watch accused the Sri Lankan military of shelling hospitals in the Safe Zone indiscriminately with artillery and attacking them aerially beginning with the Mullaitivu General Hospital in December 2008 and including at least eight other hospitals.[6] Human Rights Watch stated that these attacks constitute war crimes.[6] They've also said that the hospitals are clearly marked.[6]Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka found that the allegations that the Sri Lankan military shelled hospitals were credible.[7]Gotabaya Rajapakse claimed that "No hospital should operate outside the Safety Zone...everything beyond the safety is a legitimate target," and stating the attack was legitimate.[8] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband jointly called on the warring parties in the island of Sri Lanka to "not to fire out of or into" the safe zone and in the "vicinity of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital or any other medical structure".[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Health in crisis in NE". Sunday Times. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Vanni hospital aims high". Tamilnet. 16 October 1995. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  3. ^ "SLAF bombs Ponnampalam hospital, 61 patients killed". Tamilnet. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  4. ^ Julian Sheather (2009). "The Sri Lankan doctors and the challenge for medical leadership". Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (4). doi:10.20529/IJME.2009.063.
  5. ^ "BOMBING OF PONNAMPALAM MEMORIAL HOSPITAL IN SRI LANKA EDM (Early Day Motion)726: tabled on 09 February 2009". Parliament UK. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Sri Lanka: Repeated Shelling of Hospitals Evidence of War Crimes". Human Rights Watch. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  7. ^ Darusman, Marzuki; Sooka, Yasmin & Ratner, Steven (31 March 2011). Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka (PDF). United Nations.
  8. ^ "PTK hospital, legitimate military target - Gotabhaya". Tamilnet. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Hillary Clinton, David Miliband urge to halt attacks on PTK hospital, Safe Zone". Tamilnet. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

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