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KATHMANDU, March 17: At least 68 Maoist rebels were killed by Nepali troops on Sunday in a major offensive against the guerrillas fighting to topple the Himalayan kingdom’s constitutional monarchy, the Defence Ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Bhola Silwal said troops launched a “strong assault” on a rebel training camp at Gumchal in Rolpa district in west Nepal early on Sunday, killing 62 insurgents.
“A large amount of weapons, ammunition, explosives and training materials have been seized from the site,” Silwal said adding the dead included trainers as well as guerrillas.
Six rebels were killed in clashes with troops elsewhere in west Nepal, the heart of the insurgency, Silwal said.
The revolt, which began in 1996, has claimed some 2,900 lives — more than 1,100 in the past three months.
Rolpa, 450 kms west of Kathmandu, is a remote district where the insurgents, who derive their inspiration from the late Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, began their anti-government drive as a small anti-monarchy movement in 1996. Sunday’s toll was the highest since 76 rebels were killed by security forces late last month.
Nepal ordered its army to crush the rebels after the guerrillas — who are campaigning for a one-party communist republic in the world’s only Hindu kingdom — broke a fragile peace process and launched deadly raids on the army in November.
EMERGENCY POWERS: Last month Nepal’s parliament extended a state of emergency by three months, giving sweeping powers to the military.
The Maoists abandoned a truce in November after the government rejected their demand for an assembly to draw up a new constitution to dismantle the Hindu monarchy.
The counter-insurgency drive was stepped up after 167 people, most of them soldiers, were killed in a rebel attack in the west in mid February.
The guerrillas, whose strength is estimated at between 5,000 and 10,000, are concentrated in the rugged Himalayan foothills, where villages have no roads, electricity, piped water, primary education or basic health services.
The revolt has hurt Nepal’s economy and its key tourist industry. The scenic country has long been a favourite of mountaineers and trekkers and is home to the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest.
The violence has sapped business confidence, frightened off investors and threatened the stability of the country that established a multi-party parliamentary democracy in 1990.
The rebels promise to redistribute land to poor peasants and have targeted the rich, police, soldiers and politicians.
They generally conduct hit-and-run raids at night on security posts, seize arms, loot banks and extort money.
Nepal has been in turmoil since June last year when popular King Birendra was slain by his son, who killed several other royal family members before killing himself.
New King Gyanendra has been unable to muster the popular support his brother enjoyed.
That, coupled with high poverty, unemployment and the overstretched government’s failure to impose control and stamp out corruption across the nation, has fuelled rebel support.—Reuters
