COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Sri Lankan civilians are facing a dire situation as government troops close in on the last few rebel-held positions in the island nation, aid workers say.
The United Nations and the International Red Cross say thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire in between soldiers and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels are in desperate need of food and medical care and claim at least nine people were killed Sunday when an artillery shell hit the children's ward of a crowded hospital, The New York Times reported.
U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss told the newspaper at least 20 more people were wounded in the shelling of the overflowing hospital at Puthukkudiyiruppu, in the small corner of northeastern Sri Lanka still held by LTTE rebels.
U.N. officials say their access to the war zone has been very limited.
"We need open access," Sarah Crowe of UNICEF told CNN. "These children and families need to be protected and they need to get out fast."
More than 200 civilians, including at least 30 children, had been injured in the past three days of fighting, a relief worker told CNN Sunday.
