March 3, 2002	Sunday	Zilhaj 18, 1422

KATHMANDU, March 2: Five policemen and nine Maoist rebels were killed as Nepal’s government stepped up its campaign against the guerillas trying to overthrow the Hindu monarchy, officials said on Saturday.

The defence ministry said Maoist rebels fought a gunbattle with police in Kanchenpur, in western Nepal, on Friday, killing three officers and wounding another seven. At least two rebels were also killed in the encounter. Two other policemen were killed in a bomb explosion in Dang district in west Nepal.—Reuters