19 December 2004	Sunday	06 Ziqa'ad 1425

KATHMANDU, Dec 18: Nine Maoist rebels and four policemen died in fresh clashes in Nepal on Saturday, bringing the number of dead from revolt-related violence in the past week to at least 131.

The death toll made it one of the bloodiest in recent weeks in the poverty-stricken country, observers said.

Altogether at least 131 people, including 98 Maoists, 29 soldiers and four policemen, were killed in separate clashes this week, officials said. There was no comment from the Maoists on the figures.

"Of the 98 rebels killed, nine died in clashes with the army" in the southeast and far west of the country on Saturday, an army official said.

In other incidents, four policemen died on the outskirts of Kathmandu in a gunfight with Maoists, a police official said.

The 29 troops were killed in clashes in far western Nepal, a rebel stronghold. The rebels have been battling since 1996 to oust the constitutional monarchy and install a communist republic.

There has been a surge in bloodshed ahead of a January government deadline for the rebels to resume peace talks as international human rights organizations have issued fresh warnings about a deteriorating security situation for development and human rights workers as well as ordinary Nepalis.

Militants have been storming police posts and attacking security patrols and government installations and as well as detonating bombs in the capital Kathmandu and elsewhere.-AFP