Despite assurances to the contrary, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is said to have inducted 333 child soldiers during the eleven month old ceasefire, with international truce monitors alleging the real figure could be four times higher. “This is about 25 per cent of the real number,” claimed Hagrup Halkland, deputy chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), set up to monitor the ceasefire between government troops and LTTE rebels in the south Asian nation in February. The SLMM comprises representatives from the Scandinavian countries of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Halkland said an overwhelming majority of cases went unreported as relatives of the abducted avoided lodging complaints with the SLMM for fear of being harassed by the LTTE. According to military intelligence reports, roughly 35 to 40 per cent of the 15,000 strong LTTE cadres are estimated to be below 18 years. Full Story