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100 rebels may have died in gunbattle in Nepal: Army sources
Kathmandu, Sept 08: As many as 100 Maoist rebels could have been killed in a huge battle with security forces in western Nepal, army sources said today.
Kathmandu, Sept 08: As many as 100 Maoist rebels could have been killed in a huge battle with security forces in western Nepal, army sources said today.
The sources, quoting witnesses to yesterday's clash near the village of Sini in Achham district, said the bodies of 35 insurgents had been carried away, while altogether as many as 100 rebels could have been killed in the heavy fighting.
There was no way of independently verifying the death toll from the clash which took place in a remote part of the Himalayan Kingdom. "We are waiting for a detailed report on the incident," an army source added.
Army officials said yesterday that five rebels and two troops had been killed in the violence, which they said began after a group of Maoists attacked an army patrol.
The state-run English daily, the rising Nepal, also said upto 100 guerrillas could have died, quoting the Achham district administration office.
"Eyewitnesses said the Maoists had carried away the bodies of their dead in bamboo baskets or simply chopped off their heads to conceal their identities," the newspaper said.
There has been a rise in rebel violence since they withdrew from a seven-month ceasefire last month and pulled out of talks with the government, saying they would settle for nothing less than a constituent assembly election to redraft the Constitution.
Bureau Report
There was no way of independently verifying the death toll from the clash which took place in a remote part of the Himalayan Kingdom. "We are waiting for a detailed report on the incident," an army source added.
Army officials said yesterday that five rebels and two troops had been killed in the violence, which they said began after a group of Maoists attacked an army patrol.
The state-run English daily, the rising Nepal, also said upto 100 guerrillas could have died, quoting the Achham district administration office.
"Eyewitnesses said the Maoists had carried away the bodies of their dead in bamboo baskets or simply chopped off their heads to conceal their identities," the newspaper said.
There has been a rise in rebel violence since they withdrew from a seven-month ceasefire last month and pulled out of talks with the government, saying they would settle for nothing less than a constituent assembly election to redraft the Constitution.
Bureau Report