The latest LTTE offensive has revealed a new tactic. In several instances, LTTE troops advanced behind a screen of fleeing civilians. At least fifty civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded because they were caught in the cross fire. The LTTE insists that these civilian losses were the result of indiscriminate government use of artillery. But both sides use a lot of artillery, and foreign aid workers have reported seeing the LTTE using the human shield tactics. Meanwhile, the government pledged to keep fighting the LTTE until the rebels were crushed.