Sri Lanka

Tamil Tigers step up child soldier use, says UN agency

Article published on the 2009-02-17 Latest update 2009-02-17 15:26 TU

A wounded Tamil baby at the Trincomalee naval base
(Photo: Reuters)

In Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have stepped up the recruitment of child soldiers as government forces close in on their last hold-outs in the north-east of the island, according to the UN's child welfare agency, Unicef. It also says that an increasing number of children are being wounded or killed in what appear to be the final stages of the military conflict.

"A growing number of children are being recruited," Unicef's James Elder told RFI.

The agency's database records 6,000 children recruited as soldiers by the LTTE and Elder believes this is an underestimate.

With government forces apparently poised for military victory over the LTTE, who are trapped in a small patch of jungle, Elder says that the Tigers are now forcing 14-year-olds to take up arms.

"These children face the worst kind of horrors," Elder says. "They face being in the frontline of an intense conflict in the prime of their childhood."

And he adds that both sides are causing a growing number of child deaths and injuries.

"You have babies with shrapnel wounds, gunshot injuries and blast wounds," he says. "Children whose mothers’ last act was to cover their bodies and take the force of the shelling."

The LTTE promised to end the use of child soldiers ten years ago but are frequently accused of not keeping that promise.

On Monday the UN accused the Tigers of shooting civilians who were trying to leave the conflict zone.

The website of the Tamil Rahabilitation Organisation, which is banned in several countries for allegedly being a front for the LTTE, countered by claiming that the UN made the charges to cover its alleged failure to defend civilians trapped in the area.