Fighting kills 10 more in Lanka

At least nine Tamil Tiger guerillas and a government soldier have died in fighting in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said yesterday.
Troops killed the nine men from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in three clashes on Tuesday along the de facto border of the mini-state run by the guerrillas, the ministry said.
It said a government soldier died in a rebel mortar bomb attack.
The casualties came a day after the Tigers infiltrated a key air base south of their front lines and destroyed a fleet of military aircraft, including at least five spy planes.
The guerrillas lost 21 members of their elite suicide squad while the military said 14 security personnel died defending the Anuradhapura base.
Fighting between security forces and the Tiger rebels escalated with the unravelling of a Norwegian-brokered truce from late 2005. More than 5,400 people have since been reported to have been killed.