[JURIST] UN Children's Fund [official website] officials have confirmed 40 cases of children being abducted or recruited as soldiers [UNICEF fact sheet, PDF] by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebel group [factional website] since December's tsunami disaster [JURIST Hot Topic]. According to UNICEF spokesman Martin Dawes, "We have had 40 verified cases by UNICEF of child recruitment of the LTTE [Tamil rebels] since the tsunami. When we say verified, these are cases that have come to our attention from families or concerned people, which we were able to check out and basically take to the LTTE as a complaint." Dawes said that only four children were removed from tsunami displacement camps, which raises the possibility that there is general recruitment amongst the population. Recruiting of child soldiers is banned by international convention. VOA News has more.