pass the roti on the left hand side

"A 31-year-old local worker was killed this afternoon inside the conflict zone by shelling. His mother was also killed," ICRC spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said. The ICRC is the only international aid agency working inside the war zone.

Wijeratne did not say who fired the shells.

The only hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone was shelled Wednesday for the second time in two days in an attack that killed at least 15 people, including a volunteer health worker, and wounded 40 others, a doctor at the facility said.

The military has denied firing heavy weapons in recent weeks as it pushes to finish off the Tamil Tiger rebels, though human rights groups and international officials say the government has continued artillery attacks.

"Recent satellite photos and witness accounts show the brutal shelling of civilians in the conflict area goes on," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Strongly condemning the death of an aid worker with a non-governmental organization CARE in the "no-fire" zone in Sri Lanka's strife-torn north, the United Nations has said this gives an insight into larger circumstances confronting civilians trapped by the fighting in the conflict zone.

R Sabesan, a national staff member with CARE, died of injuries sustained as a result of shelling inside the zone, compounded by a lack of sufficient medical care, the UN said.