The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate state in the north and northeast for the country's ethnic Tamil minority, following decades of discrimination by the Sinhalese majority.

On Thursday, soldiers and rebels exchanged gunfire on a strategic bridge in the eastern area of Batticaloa, the military said. One soldier was wounded.

Samarasinghe said an army patrol was attacked by Tamil rebels on the ``Black Bridge,'' which leads to Batticaloa town.

``Our soldiers fired back, forcing the rebels to flee,'' he said. It was not immediately known if the rebels suffered any casualties.

Meanwhile, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE, as the Tamil Tigers are formally called, accused the military of launching offensives against Tiger territory in Batticaloa.

``Sri Lankan armed forces are firing artillery shells and mortar shells into almost all parts of the LTTE administered areas in Batticaloa,'' the rebels said in a statement.

It said that the military had been firing from four camps since Thursday morning, and that thousands of civilians in seven villages have fled the violence.

The rebels also said they recovered the body of one dead soldier after the battle on the Black Bridge.>Discuss this story Published: Thu Mar 8 18:24:47 EST 2007