Fresh violence in Sri Lanka kills 10 people

July 23, 2007 (AFP) - At least nine Tamil Tiger guerrillas and a civilian were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka, the military and the rebels said Monday.









Government forces shot dead four members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along the de facto border separating their areas of control in the Jaffna peninsula in the north of the island Monday, the military said.

It said two soldiers were wounded in the firefight across the Muhamalai area in Jaffna.

Near Jaffna town, gunmen shot dead a local employee of the Danish Refugee Council on Monday morning, the military said, blaming the killing on Tiger rebels.

There was no immediate reaction from the guerrillas who, in a statement earlier Monday, said they lost five of their men in a confrontation with security forces elsewhere in the island.

The latest clashes came after the government marked the capture of the final bastion of the LTTE in the east of the island with a victory parade last week.

The Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils for 35 years, a conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.