KATHMANDU, Jan 20: At least 23 soldiers and police and six Maoist rebels were killed in a clash in eastern Nepal while 16 security personnel were still missing a day after the battle, the army said on Thursday.

The army said it had retrieved bodies of 23 security personnel and six rebels after Wednesday's clash along a highway near Puwakhola east of the capital Kathmandu.

"The 23 security personnel included an army captain and armed policemen," an army official told AFP.

"The clashes took place while the army was trying to remove landmines planted by the rebels," the official said. "We're waiting for news of the missing 16 security personnel who have yet to contact their base."

A Maoist commander said the rebels killed 20 soldiers and abducted 20 others. The local rebel commander confirmed that six Maoists were killed in the clash which he said lasted more than two hours.

Maoist leader Prachanda warned the government Wednesday it would "pay a heavy price" if it went ahead with long-delayed general elections in the poverty-hit kingdom.

The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to topple the monarchy and install a communist republic in a conflict that has claimed more than 11,000 lives.

Violence has been rising in recent months since a pledge by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to hold long-delayed elections if the Maoists failed to agree to resume peace talks by January 13.

The deadline passed with the Maoists rejecting the call to come back to the negotiating table. But Deuba is facing a hard time persuading coalition allies that the polls should go ahead before talks with the rebels who have said they would sabotage the election process.-AFP