COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka are resorting to forced conscription and labor from civilians amid a major military offensive on the rebels’ northern stronghold, a human rights group said yesterday as the army seized another rebel-held town.
The government has pledged to crush the guerrillas by the end of the year and has launched a major offensive against them in recent months, capturing key towns and forcing the rebels into a shrinking stronghold in the country’s northeast.
Human Rights Watch said “in the face of an ongoing government military offensive” the rebels have resorted to abuses that include forcing civilians in the rebel heartland to fight or work under abusive conditions, and restricting their movement. As the group “loses ground to advancing government forces, their treatment of the very people they say they are fighting for is getting worse,” said Brad Adams, the Asia director for New York-based rights group.
“Trapped in the LTTE’s iron fist, ordinary Tamils are forcibly recruited as fighters and forced to engage in dangerous labor near the front lines,” Adams said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam group by its initials.
Meanwhile, government troops seized control of Ampakamam village in rebel-controlled Mullaitivu district after hours of fighting yesterday, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. He called the battle a key step toward defeating the rebels.
Fighter jets bombed a defense line in the rebels’ de facto capital of Kilinochchi yesterday, said air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara. He did not provide details on damage and casualties. The airstrikes are in support of ground troops locked in battles on the outskirts on the rebel capital. Soldiers there have faced stiff rebel resistance for weeks, despite recently predicting the city’s “imminent fall.”
