An undetonated mortar shell was recovered at Mullaitivu District Hospital on Wednesday, more than 12 years after it was subjected to intense Sri Lankan military bombardment.
The Sri Lankan police removed the device after workers uncovered the mortar shell during road construction on the hospital premises.
Last year, undetonated mines and human skeletal remains were recovered from hospitals across Mullaitivu during land clearance work. It is unclear how many bodies or munitions remain in the area, dating back to the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009.
Sri Lankan military offensives in 2008 and 2009 stand accused of deliberately shelling of hospitals in Vanni, including through the use of cluster weapons that many fear may remain undetonated on the hospital premises.
According to the UN OISL report, the Mullaitivu District Hospital was shelled on several occasions between August 2008 and January 2009. On a single night in August 2008 the report states, “approximately 40 shells exploded in the immediate surroundings of Mullaitivu hospital, reportedly fired from an area controlled by the advancing forces of the SLA [Sri Lankan Army].”
To date, there has been no accountability for the bombings, despite frequent findings of bodies and munitions.
