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[COLOMBO, 18 February 2009] – Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have stepped up conscription of child soldiers, the United Nations agency for children said on Tuesday, as the rebels prepared for 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 northeast 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. False pledges The Tigers pledged 10 years ago to end enlisting child soldiers but have repeatedly failed to fulfil the promise. The rebels did not immediately react to UNICEF's charges, 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 Tamil party allied to the government said 288 non-combatants had been killed in the past week, marking a spike in civilian casualties, and urged President Mahinda Rajapakse to take measures to ensure civilian safety. A front organisation for the Tigers said they were not responsible for killing civilians saying the UN had failed in its duty to protect innocent people. The UN was "withdrawing even the remaining few local staff from the conflict zone (and) completely shedding its responsibility of caring for the civilians trapped here," said the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO). The TRO, which is outlawed in several countries, including the US, said in its statement the UN was trying to hide "their own failures". Tiger leaders have always denied charges that their fighters kill civilians or are holding thousands of them as "human shields". Hopes dashed The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that families were arriving at a designated "safe zone" inside rebel territory "in a state of utter exhaustion and despair, hoping to be treated and rescued". "But the reality is that there is an almost complete lack of medicine and relief items there," said Paul Castella, head of the ICRC in Sri Lanka, on Tuesday. "We did save lives today but many people remain behind, helpless and anxiously waiting to be evacuated. It is now a matter of life and death." The UN, the United States and Britain have asked the Tigers to allow civilians to leave the conflict zone while urging the government in Colombo to declare a temporary truce. Both have rejected the calls. On Saturday, the defence ministry accused the Tigers of a grenade attack that killed a woman and wounded 13 people who were trying to flee the shrinking area still under rebel control. In fresh fighting, security forces captured the bodies of 23 Tiger rebels on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, adding that security forces had taken more territory. However, it did not say if troops suffered casualties. Further information
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