Saturday, August 23, 2008

Sri Lanka government accuses LTTE of conscripting civilians to fight

Sri Lanka government today accused the LTTE of conscripting civilians to fight the troops advancing into the Tiger controlled areas as their numbers dwindle due to the fighting.

The government said the LTTE leadership has directed their cadres to forcibly conscript civilians who had no battle training and use them as a buffer between the LTTE and the troops marching into the terrorist stronghold in the Wanni.

The government further said “the LTTE seeks to use civilians as a human shield so that in the event of casualties the organization can plead to what has been a largely unsympathetic world that there is a 'humanitarian catastrophe'.”

The human rights group, Amnesty International, recently slammed the LTTE for breaking international law by using civilians as a buffer against government forces.

Human right groups and the United Nations have repeatedly accused the Tigers of recruiting child soldiers and sending them to the frontlines.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/August2245743CH.html

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