Sri Lankan Rebels Step-Up Child Soldier Recruitment

(17 Feb 09-RV) The U.N. Children’s Fund today said Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have stepped up child recruitment in the civil war against government forces, leading to the death or wounding of many. The rebels who lost many of their strongholds to government forces in the past months are now fighting desperately to defend a small sliver of land in the northeast where they are cornered near the island's coast. Since 2003, UNICEF has recorded more than 6,000 cases of children recruited by the LTTE. Some are as young as 14 years old. The Communication Chief at UNICEF Sri Lanka, James Elder, told us more about the horrors that child soldiers face.