A Filipino aid worker was shot and wounded by navy troops after he strayed too close to a naval camp in eastern Sri Lanka where security forces are battling Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said Thursday.
The Mercy Corps worker, Antonio Vilamor, was walking at night near a naval camp north of the port town of Trincomalee, despite warnings to the public to stay away, said Brig. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe. Naval guards opened fire and hit Vilamor in the head, Samarasinghe said.
"We are not regretting this because we have warned people not to come close to the camp at night and this person ignored the warnings," Samarasinghe said. "Luckily he was only slightly injured."
"It is not our fault at all," he said.
Vilamor was transferred to Colombo's National Hospital where he is in stable condition, according to hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa.
"He's all right, they're treating his wounds. He was conscious and rational," she said.
Iveta Ouvry, Mercy Corp's director of programs and deputy country director, said Vilamor was shot near his hotel, but had no further details. She said he was in Trincomalee to work on tsunami-relief projects.
Police are investigating the incident.
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