``We have recovered 14 dead bodies of terrorists,'' said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. The government often refers to the Tigers as terrorists.

The military also recovered 10 T-56 automatic rifles, two rocket-propelled grenades, one sniper gun and five mobile phones from the rebels, Samarasinghe said.

The fighting left one government soldier dead and 10 wounded, he said.

The rebels want a separate state for Sri Lanka's 3.1 million minority ethnic Tamils, a demand the government rejects. The administration says it can only grant limited autonomy to Tamil areas.Discuss this story Published: Sun Mar 11 14:26:12 EDT 2007

Battles have escalated in recent days between government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in parts of the country's rebel strongholds, after a few weeks' lull.

International Committee of the Red Cross official Davide Vignati said that since November about 105,000 displaced people have fled to government-controlled refugee camps in the eastern district of Batticaloa _ the largest number of displaced persons in one district.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate state in the north and east for the country's ethnic Tamil minority, following decades of discrimination by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict left about 65,000 people dead before the government and rebels signed a Norway-brokered cease-fire in 2002.

However, renewed fighting has left about 4,000 more people dead and at least 200,000 displaced in Sri Lanka since late 2005, when the cease-fire faltered, European truce monitors say.

Meanwhile, a Tamil Tiger spokesman said the rebels had repulsed government commandos' recent assault on a rebel base in eastern Sri Lanka. He denied military claims that the rebel camp had been overrun and 20 guerrillas killed.

A military spokesman had said earlier that special task force troops stormed the base in Ampara district, 130 miles east of the capital, Colombo, on Friday.Discuss this story Published: Sat Mar 10 14:26:34 EST 2007

Defense Ministry's Web site: http://www.nationalsecurity.lk Published: Sun Mar 11 05:14:42 EDT 2007