At least 41 dead in eastern Nepal clash, Army claims
At least 41 dead in eastern Nepal clash, Army claims
Shusham Shrestha Agence France-Presse Kathmandu
At least 41 people were killed in a major gunfight between security forces and Maoist rebels in a town in eastern Nepal, the most serious clashes between the sides for months, the army said on Wednesday.
Army spokesman Col. Dipak Gurung said up to 2,000 armed Maoists raided the town of Bhojpur, headquarters of a district, attacked a telecommunications tower and tried to rob a state-run commercial bank.
He said 31 security personnel and at least 10 Maoists died in the overnight clash, which began about 9:35 pm (10:50 p.m in Jakarta) on Tuesday.
The rebels were prevented from taking over the town but damaged a bank and a telephone communications tower before fleeing, he told a press conference here.
Gurung said the bodies of 10 Maoists were found at the scene of the clash, including those of two women. Other bodies were carried away by the fleeing rebels, he claimed.
Security sources earlier said the fiercest fighting had occurred around the tower but that rebels had also battled the security forces in nearby areas to prevent reinforcements from reaching the site.
"The tower has been completely destroyed," a police official said, adding that the rebels had looted rocket launchers, self- loading rifles, semi-automatic rifles and other weapons from the security forces before fleeing.
Reinforcements had reached the area and were carrying out search operations for rebels involved in the attack, the official added.
The assault marked one of the largest attacks by the rebels since peace talks between the Maoists and the government broke down in August 2003.
Shortly after the collapse of the negotiations, the Maoists pulled out of a seven-month cease-fire with the government and renewed its so-called "people's war" in earnest.
The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and the uprising has so far claimed more than 9,000 lives.
The conflict has turned into one of the world's deadliest with an average of 13 people killed a day, human rights groups say.
The revolt in the nation, which sits as a buffer between India and China, is also one of the world's most brutal, with rights activists accusing both the armed forces and the Maoists of human rights atrocities.
Human rights groups say the Maoists carry out executions and kidnappings, torture prisoners, extort money, forcibly conscript fighters and use child soldiers.
They also accuse the army of secret detentions, torture and killing innocent civilians.