Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have stepped up conscription of child soldiers, the United Nations agency for children said on Tuesday, as the rebels prepare to face a final onslaught by the military. Government troops are on the verge of crushing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and ending their 37-year campaign for an independent Tamil homeland after a series of victories across the north-east of the island.
"We have clear indications that the LTTE has intensified forcible recruitment of civilians and that children as young as 14 years old are now being targeted," Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF's chief in Sri Lanka, said. The Tigers, who are encircled in a small patch of jungle, have a long record of using child soldiers, and have recruited more than 6,000 since 2002 according to UNICEF.
"With a growing number of children being recruited by the LTTE and scores of children being killed or injured in fighting, UNICEF today expressed its gravest concerns," the agency said.
The Tigers pledged ten years ago to end employment of child soldiers but have repeatedly failed to fulfil the promise. The rebels did not immediately react to UNICEF's claims, though they did lash out after being accused on Monday of shooting civilians who try to escape the bloody conflict. The United Nations said "a growing number of people trying to leave have been shot and sometimes killed" as they sought safety by fleeing rebel territory to government-controlled areas. A front organisation for the Tigers countered those allegations by saying the UN had failed in its duty to protect innocent people.