Sri Lanka

Minister in intensive care after attack

Article published on the 2009-03-11 Latest update 2009-03-11 14:10 TU

Sri Lankan Postal Minister Mahinda Wijesekara after the attack
(Credit: Reuters)

Sri Lankan Postal Services Minister Mahinda Wijesekera is in intensive care after being taken off life support on Wednesday after he suffered head wounds from an attack on a mosque in the southern Sri Lankan town of Akuressa on Tuesday that killed 15 and injured 60, officials said. He was airlifted to Colombo, the capital, and underwent four hours of surgery.

Wijesekera's condition has improved, but he is still in intensive care in the neurological unit, according to a spokeman for Colombo National Hospital.

The government blamed the rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the attack. They have not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Sri Lankan government army has been carrying out a major military offensive against the LTTE in the north of the country for about two years, in a bid to end the three-decade-long civil war. Previously, the LTTE has claimed responsibility for attacks it ordered or carried out.

In related news, the United Nations reported on Wednesday that the Tamil Tigers are taking high-energy food meant for highly undernourished children in the north of the country after a food supplement called BP-100 was found on the body of a dead Tamil Tiger.

Estimates vary according to different sources, but between 70 and 300,000 civilians are believed to be trapped by the fighting in the north. Several thousand displaced people have landed up in what the government calls safe zones, where they are being kept in transit camps.