'Army trying to avoid civilian casualties in operations'

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapakse has said he was convinced that people in rebel-held areas of northern Sri Lanka are not supporting the LTTE and asserted that the the army was taking all precautions to avoid civilian casualties during operations against the rebels.

"A letter that was recovered from the pocket of a slain little female militant by the army has touched me. The letter speaks about the girl's helplessness in (not) attending the Thaipongal festival as she has been told to fight in the north," Rajapakse said during an interaction with editors and foreign journalists here on Tuesday.
    
The President said it was largely clear that the common people, especially the parents of the girls and boys who "are forced to join the LTTE insurgency", are "disillusioned" with Tamil Tiger supremo Vellupillai Prabhakaran.
    
Rajapakse said the Sri Lankan military is treading a cautious path in the battle against the rebels and trying to avoid any civilian casualty. "In fact in some major operations we have not had any civilian deaths," he added.

A military official said the army was following what the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) did in Sri Lanka in 1980s when they tried to protect the civilians when undertaking operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
   
Asked about the issue of child soldiers and their rehabilitation, Rajapakse said they had to be viewed not as combatants but as children who needed help.
   
The President said the government was thinking in terms of setting up special courts for juvenile offenders.