AT least 65 Maoist rebels were killed in clashes with security personnel in two western districts on Thursday, said Nepal’s minister of state for home Devendra Raj Kandel.
About 25 were killed in an encounter in Boktang in Doti
district, 398 kilometres west of Kathmandu, Kandel
said.
Another 40 were killed in the Lisne area of Rolpa district, 298 kilometres west of here.
”We are waiting for a detailed account on these clashes when the exact number of deaths can be substantiated,” he said.
Local reports said as many as 60 rebels may have been killed at Lisne alone, where the insurgents had a training camp.
Nepalese language daily Kantipur said security personnel were combing the Lisne area when the rebels suddenly attacked them. It said 61 Maoists were killed in ensuing clashes.
The paper added that one soldier was killed and three others, including a soldier and two policemen, were seriously injured.
Military officials have not confirmed the soldier’s death. A large amount of arms and ammunition was recovered and Kandel said the security forces have intensified their operations.
The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and the insurgency has so far claimed more than 3 200 lives. ? Sapa