Fourteen Maoist rebels and two Nepalese troops were killed in a fresh round of violence around the kingdom, officials and newspapers said on Friday.
Ten of the leftist guerrillas and the two soldiers died in a fierce clash in the mountainous western district of Rukum, a Maoist stronghold, the Nepali-language daily Samacharpatra reported.
An army representative could not confirm the number of casualties, but said Maoists had ambushed patrolling troops with long-range guns late on Tuesday, setting off an overnight battle in Rukum’s Khara area, more than 440km west of the capital Kathmandu.
”We went to look for the Maoists’ bodies at daybreak on Wednesday but found only patches of blood. They may have taken them away,” the representative said.
In separate incidents around the kingdom four Maoists were shot dead on Thursday, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Nepal also said neighbouring India had taken into custody eight Maoists who had been injured in clashes last week in Rukum and who crossed the border to seek medical treatment in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
”We greatly appreciate the cooperation extended by the Indian police in controlling the Maoists,” deputy home minister Devendra Raj Kandel said.
Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur, Deuba visited India in March and urged officials to seal off the porous 1 040km border.
Nepal has said the Maoists benefit from support networks within India, particularly from fellow far-left guerrilla groups.
More than 4 300 people have died since the Maoists launched their ”people’s war” in 1996 to topple the constitutional monarchy, according to the official count.
Deuba, who held three rounds of failed talks with the Maoists last year, has ruled out any further dialogue unless the rebels lay down their arms. – Sapa-AFP