KATHMANDU, Sept 8: At least 119 people died and 19 were injured on Sunday when Maoist rebels attacked a police station in Bhiman, 100 kilometres east of Kathmandu, the Nepalese government said.

The attack with heavy automatic weapons was the biggest in four months and came just 10 days after the end of the state of emergency, imposed in November 2001 to fight the Maoist insurgence.

Among the victims were 49 policemen, but the death toll for the Maoists could be far higher than 70, the government said. There had been about 73 policemen at the post during the attack, an official source said.

Political observers in the capital said the attack took most government officials by surprise as the Maoists had suffered a crushing defeat at Khare in the Rukum district in western Nepal in May, when more than 200 rebels were killed.—dpa