Sri Lanka Air Force today (Feb 6) released a video footage taken by a beach craft yesterday (Feb 5) at around 1.55p.m., during a reconnaissance mission over Puthukudduyiruppu area. The video footage clearly shows the buildings of the former Puthukudduyiruppu hospital with no damages caused due to artillery fire or aerial bombardment.

Earlier, UN officials charged the government for attacking the hospital with "cluster bombs". However, the ill informed UN officials were later made aware that Sri Lanka Air Force does not possess "cluster bombs" and the hospital was actually operating under the Health Ministry of the same government that they had levelled their charges against.

As the LTTE terrorists positioned their artillery batteries at the hospital premises and started firing at troops, the government decided to move the hospital into the no fire zone demarcated for the civilians in the area on 3rd February 2009. Since then the hospital buildings are longer occupied by the patients or the medical staff. The video footage clearly shows that even after the vacating of the hospital neither air force nor army have targeted the hospital buildings despite the false propaganda of the LTTE.

The senior defence official speaking to defence.lk highlighted that this was not the first instance that the LTTE has used the "hospital strategy" to hoodwink the world. The outfit spread the same lie around the world about the Muttur, Vakarai, Mullaittivu, and Kilinochchi hospitals when troops had entered those areas. Later, it was found that none of the hospitals were hit by any aerial bombardment or artillery fire.

~ defence.lk ~