The 11 Army personnel, including a Major, and nine policemen were killed and several injured in a major rebel assault last night at an army command post in dang district, 350 km west of Kathmandu, minister of state for home Devendra Raj Kandel said.

About thousand armed Maoists also stormed a district police headquarters in Syangja district, the stronghold of ruling Nepali Congress Party, overnight killing 14 policemen. Dozens were injured in the attack, he said. “They blasted the district administration office, district police office and an army barrack and abducted the chief district officer in Dang,” Kandel said. The rebels also blew up a helicopter in Surkhet, a rebel stronghold, belonging to the private Asian Airlines after power supply to the Surkhet airport was cut. Two other helicopters parked nearby were partially destroyed. The Maoists exploded bombs in district administration offices in Parvat and Gorkha. In various places security forces fired back at the rebels in which several of the Maoists are believed to be killed.
Bureau Report