UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned an attack in Sri Lanka which injured senior aid officials, including one from the United Nations.
Following the attack by separatist rebels Tuesday he urged both sides in the conflict to halt the bloodshed and resume talks.
Ban's statement came in reaction to the shelling by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of a helicopter field in Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka where 12 people, including the U.N. resident coordinator and other members of a high-ranking international delegation taking part in a humanitarian assessment mission, were injured.
In a statement released by his spokeswoman, Michele Montas, Ban said, "The attack was in total disregard for the lives of civilians, humanitarian workers, government officials, and the international community."
She said, "The secretary-general urges the parties to the conflict to end the destructive spiral of violence and calls on them to make every effort to return to the peace process as soon as possible." she said.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other agencies have been struggling to assist tens of thousands of civilians who have fled fighting between the Government and the LTTE.
