October 12, 2003	Sunday	Sha'aban 15, 1424

KATHMANDU, Oct 11: At least 50 Maoist rebels and seven policemen were killed in Nepal during one of the biggest clashes since a seven-month ceasefire ended six weeks ago, police said Saturday.

Police said at least 600 rebels attacked a police post late Friday in the village of Khas-Kusum in the western Banke district, 415 kilometres from Kathmandu, with the fierce fighting continuing until Saturday morning.

“The bodies of 50 rebels have been recovered but many others were carried away by the insurgents themselves,” a senior police officer in Banke said by telephone.

“Many policemen injured in the clash were flown into Kathmandu for treatment,” he added, without giving an exact figure.

Local witnesses said some dead and injured rebels were carried away on dokos — big bamboo baskets — by other guerrillas, according to their customs.

A number of injured rebels were in security force custody.

The casualty figures were impossible to verify independently in the remote area.

As armed police reinforcements reached the site, the guerrillas fled into the nearby jungles, the police said.

Security forces recovered weapons, tents, sleeping bags, foodstuffs and medicines from the clash site, which police said was now under army control.

Khas-Kusum is close to the southwestern town of Nepalgunj, known to be a rebel stronghold.

In August a third round of peace talks between the rebels and the government was held in Nepalgunj, but they broke down when the government refused to call a special assembly to redraft the constitution.—AFP