COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Tamil Tigers fighting for nationhood in Sri Lanka forcibly recruit child soldiers in preparation for a return to all-out hostilities, it was reported Sunday.
Villagers in the impoverished eastern region say rebels are picking up boys and girls in the street, sometimes in broad daylight, as they become desperate for recruits, London's Observer newspaper reports.
The children, as young as 11 or 12, make up more than 20 percent of the Tamil Tigers' frontline fighters, aid agencies estimate.
UNICEF figures show more than 5,000 children have been recruited since 2001.
One boy kidnapped with his friends was beaten unconscious and eventually let go.
"I don't know why they released me," he told the newspaper. "My mother told me they do that sometimes: They take a group and release one so they don't anger everyone."
The politico-military Tamil Tigers have waged a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
