Two youths have revealed how they escaped from the In an interview this week, the two young abductees, named only as K Vinoharan, 15, and S Chandrakumar, 17, from the country's eastern port city of Trincomalee, recalled how they were forcibly taken away by an armed LTTE group and held captive for one week before they escaped earlier this month. The teenagers revealed that there were more than 200 youths, including some as young as 12 and 13, receiving weapons training at a camp, which houses one of the main rebel training facilities in the rebel-held territory around Trincomalee.
Vinoharan said five LTTE fighters grabbed him from the clutches of his pleading brother while they returned home from school on 1 March. "They grabbed me and hit me when I screamed. They put me in the van and drove away as my brother kept pleading with them to let me go," he said. The youths described how they went through strenuous training in weapons combat at the Trincomalee rebel camp and were told by their leaders to prepare to sacrifice their lives. "We were shown the sea and told if war breaks out we will have to attack the navy and, if required, jump on the navy boats and explode bombs that will be strapped around us," the two boys said.
Senior LTTE leaders were said to have visited the training camp on numerous occasions and witnessed first hand the progress of the training sessions. After six days in captivity, Chandrakumar and Vinoharan managed to make their getaway at night along the seashore adjoining the rebel training camp. The recruitment of children by the LTTE is on the increase, Amnesty International said in its latest report. Amnesty said even a large international presence following the tsunami has not significantly helped protect children from LTTE recruitment.