04 February,2009 02:29 PM IST | | PTI
At least 52 civilians were killed in shelling in Sri Lanka's embattled northern Wanni region, where a hospital came under attack for the fourth straight day today - this time by a cluster bomb, forcing authorities to evacuate patients from one of the last functioning medical facilities in the war zone.
"We have a confirmed report that 52 civilians have been killed in a shell attack at Suranthapuram (in Wanni region) last evening," UN Spokesman Gordon Weiss said, adding it was not known who was responsible for the attack.
Meanwhile, a cluster bomb struck an equipped hospital in Wanni treating civilians wounded in the fighting between the troops and LTTE.
Today was the fourth consecutive day when the hospital was attacked, forcing authorities to evacuate patients from the building.
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Earlier, shellings hit the hospital in the rebel-held Puthukkudiyiruppu area in Mullattivu since Sunday killing at least 12 civilians and injured 30 others.
The latest attack on the hospital came as Sri Lanka marked its 61st Independence Day, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa declaring that the Tamil Tigers would be "decisively" defeated in the next few days.
It was not known if there were any casualties in today's attack on the medical facility. Sensing the precarious situation, the government had on Monday asked all civilians to enter the demarcated 'safety zone' as soon as possible, cautioning that otherwise their security could not be guaranteed.
