COLOMBO, 31 July 2004 — Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers have released 34 child soldiers, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund said yesterday, but it added the rebels were continuing to recruit underage fighters.
The group, which included 21 girls and 13 boys between the ages of 14 and 17, was handed over late Thursday to a UNICEF transit centre in the rebel-held northern town of Kilinochchi.
“Every child freed is a step in the right direction,” UNICEF said in a statement.
But it added: “Over the past three months, recruitment of children by the LTTE has continued despite commitments the organization made to cease all underage conscription. This is simply unacceptable and must cease now.”
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have used children as a vital part of their fighting force in their 21-year war for a separate Tamil state. They have continued to recruit despite signing a truce with the government in February 2002. Yesterday’s release was the first positive news on the peace process after a week of meetings held by Norwegian envoy Vidar Helgesen that he said brought the island no closer to resuming talks that stalled in April last year.
Cop Kills Self, Ex-Girlfriend
A constable exploded a grenade, killing himself and his estranged fiancée, at a police garage in the Sri Lankan capital yesterday, police said.
The man ordered colleagues out of a room in the facility and then exploded the grenade while hugging his former girlfriend, who was also a department employee, a police officer said.
“We are treating this as a suicide-murder,” police said.
