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| 10 April 2005 | Sunday | 30 Safar 1426 |
Nepal army claims killing 97 rebels
The army said on Friday it had killed at least 50 Maoists in the deadly overnight clash after the insurgents attacked their base with rocket launchers and mortars .
The official said on Saturday soldiers combing the forests and ravines had recovered 47 more decomposing bodies near the base in Khara, in the rebel heartland of Rukum, 550kms west of Kathmandu.
“Some bodies were buried while others were abandoned in the forests and by the side of streams,” the official said.
He said three soldiers were also killed in the clash.
The Maoists are fighting to topple the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom wedged between China and India.
He said more rebels might have died.
The actual casualty figures might never be known because the rebels usually carry fallen comrades and bury them on river banks or jungles to hide their losses.
Independent verification of the army claim is not possible and the Maoists have not commented.
The violence came as an 11-day strike called by the Maoists to protest against the King seizing power continued to disrupt supplies. The strike ends on Tuesday.
The Maoist revolt has claimed more than 11,000 lives since 1996.
Nepal’s King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency on Feb 1, sacked the multi-party government, seized power and vowed to crush the Maoist revolt.
BLAST KILLS TWO: Two Russian tourists were injured, two Nepali citizens killed and 13 others wounded in separate bomb blasts in the country on Saturday.
The Russians were on a highway on their way to the base camp of Mount Everest when they were injured by a roadside blast. The two Nepalis died and 13 other people were wounded in the bombing of a bus by rebels in southern Nepal.
“The bus has been completely destroyed and the injured passengers were rushed by a helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu,” the army said in a statement. —Reuters
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