KATHMANDU, Sept 5: Three soldiers were killed and seven injured when their patrol vehicle triggered a landmine in western Nepal on Sunday, an army source said. The incident occurred at Talghare village in Tanahu district.

In the explosion, seven soldiers were injured, some critically. Two of the soldiers were reported dead earlier in the day but a third died in Kathmandu. In a separate incident, seven Maoist rebels were killed on Sunday at Maheshpur in Siraha district, southeast of Kathmandu, the source said.

Another militant was killed in an encounter with security forces at Sanfejugam in Parbat district in the west, an army source said. The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and the uprising has so far claimed around 10,000 lives. -AFP