Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday released 31 child soldiers in the eastern Trincomalee district, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said.

The group of child soldiers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels were handed over to UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) in Trincomalee.

These children were using false documents stating they were 18 years or older when they joined the LTTE rank, it said.

On Tuesday a total of 168 child soldiers, 55 males and 113 females, were handed over by the LTTE rebels to their parents through the UNICEF representatives in the eastern Batticaloa-Ampara district.

This is the largest number of child soldiers released by the LTTE rebels so far.

Ted Chaiban, UNICEF's Representative in Sri Lanka, said that despite the release of these children, there are hundreds or thousands more children still in the ranks of the LTTE rebels.

He called on the LTTE rebels to meet their commitments not to re-recruiting child soldiers in the future.

Despite the truce between the LTTE rebels and the government since February two years ago, the rebels have been accused by the government and world bodies of continuing to recruit child soldiers which was denied by the rebels.

Source: Xinhua