the following: The pastor's group was then allowed to leave, but not before some were physically and verbally abused. He described a fellow pastor being beaten: He further added: Other civilians who managed to escape the war zone claimed that the Tamil Tigers had shot at injured civilians fleeing the fighting. It was claimed that the Tigers were keeping them human shields as well using them as fighters, a charge denied by the Tigers. The civilians' claims were corroborated by Tamil Tiger officials who surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army. Pakkiyavathi, a civilian who managed to escape the war zone describes how LTTE cadres shot escaping Tamil civilians: A family who escaped the war zone in a large group of an estimated 60,000 people said that when their group attempted to cross the Nanthikadal lagoon, the LTTE cadres fired and shelled the civilians, killing many of them. A youth who was travelling with 12 others in the same group stated that a shell from the LTTE struck his group and killed the other 12. Civilians who managed to escape the war zone also claimed that Tamil Tigers stole most of the humanitarian aid and sold it on to the people. The LTTE increased their forced recruitment practices during the final stages of the civil war. Children and adults were forcibly recruited by LTTE and those who tried to avoid recruitment were met with strict punishments. Kauruppaiah Ganapathipillai, a civilian who managed to escape the war zone recounted the following: Darchiga Kuken, a former LTTE child soldier, recounted how she was abducted and forced to fight for the LTTE: She further said she was taken to a training camp at Mullivaikkal, where she was given nine days of basic military training. On the morning of 24 March, she was sent to the front. She further added: She managed to join a group of civilians and escape to the Government controlled territory while the LTTE were firing on them to prevent them from leaving. Ravindram Vajeevan, a former LTTE child soldier, recounted how he was forcibly recruited by the LTTE: He further said that he was taken to a camp with about 70 other young boys and were given basic military training. He further said that LTTE cadres threatened to shoot them from behind if they refused to fight. On 18 May 2010 Channel 4 News broadcast interviews with two Sri Lankan