COLOMBO, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said that 14 people, including six children, were killed in government air strikes in the northwest of the island on Tuesday, but the military denied it had hit civilians.

Four fighter jets dropped bombs in Mannar, destroying dozens of houses in a Tamil fishing village, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said.

"Fourteen people are dead including six children and more than 30 are injured in the air raid," the LTTE said in a statement. Earlier a rebels' military spokesman said 15 people had been killed.

The statement said the wounded had been taken to two hospitals in Mannar and that local Red Cross officials were on their way to help. There was no immediate comment from the Red Cross in Colombo.

Only five houses out of 30 were left standing in the village of Padahuthurai after the bombing, the LTTE said.

But the military said no civilian settlements had been targeted in the Mannar area. It said a Tiger naval base north of Mannar had been hit after intense surveillance and radio intercepts of rebel fighters.

"The LTTE is currently spreading false information that the SLAF (Sri Lankan Air Force) has bombed a civilian settlement in an attempt to discredit the security forces and to win the sympathy of the international community," the military said.

It said that fighter planes had also bombed an LTTE mortar position in Vakarai on the east coast, the scene of intense battles in the past few weeks.

The LTTE has repeatedly accused the government of targeting Tamil civilians in areas under its control, but the government says the rebels are using local people as human shields.

Fighting between the military and the Tamil Tigers has escalated in recent weeks with the government vowing to dislodge the rebels from their eastern stronghold including Vakarai.

More than 3,000 people were killed last year in suicide bombings, air and naval raids and clashes. Both sides say they stand by a 2002 ceasefire, but international monitors say it now exists only on paper. (Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal)

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