SLA fire hits child

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 August 1999, 23:05 GMT]
A seven year old boy, K.Nishanthan, who was playing in the compound of his house was wounded in indiscriminate fire by Sri Lanka Army soldiers on a route clearing patrol at Santhiveli, 27 km. north of Batticaloa on the Valaichenai road, this morning said sources.

The wounded child was taken to the Valaichchenai hospital. Hospital sources said Nishanthan was wounded in his back and that there were no facilities to do the surgery to remove the bullet.

Nishanthan was later rushed to the Batticaloa hospital to undergo surgery, the sources added.

Residents told TamilNet correspondent that troops on route clearing operation routinely fire at random towards both sides of the road.