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KATHMANDU, Sept 9: Maoist rebels killed at least 58 people, most of them policemen, when they overran a town in western Nepal in the second major attack in as many days, a government official said on Monday.
Defence Ministry spokesman Bhupendra Prasad Poudel said rebels “in their thousands” raided Sandhikharka, a remote valley town 300kms west of Kathmandu, on Sunday night.
“Fifty-eight people — 40 policemen, 17 (army) soldiers and one civilian — have been killed in the attack,” Poudel said.
State-run radio said the rebels used civilians as human shields.
“The rebels set on fire buildings that housed government offices, except for a hospital. They also looted a bank,” Home Ministry spokesman Gopendra Bahadur Pandey said.
Helicopter pilots flying in reinforcements saw smoke billowing from buildings in the town.
The latest attack by Maoist rebels, who are fighting to overthrow the Himalayan nation’s constitutional monarchy, began on Sunday at midnight, a day after a guerrilla attack on a police post in eastern Nepal left 49 policemen dead.
At least 29 people were wounded in Sunday night’s attack, 10 critically, officials said. Three government officials were also missing and believed to have been abducted by the rebels.
Officials quoted residents of Sandhikharka as saying they saw rebels carrying away dead and wounded comrades on their backs.
There was no independent confirmation of the death toll or any comment from the rebels who began their uprising in 1996.
The rebels have stepped up their offensive in the desperately poor nation in recent weeks after a four-month lull.
In May, troops launched big raids on rebel hideouts in west Nepal, the Maoists’ stronghold, killing hundreds. But the rebels have regrouped and have been staging new attacks since emergency rule imposed late last year expired in August, officials say.
REINFORCEMENTS: Troops were dropped from helicopters and were scouring the area looking for the insurgents, the home ministry spokesman said.
A minister said the government may have to reimpose emergency rule, which gives security forces sweeping search and detention powers.
“If the violence continues like this, the emergency will have to be reimposed,” Works Minister Chiranjivi Wagle said, adding the situation would be discussed by cabinet on Tuesday.
Key political parties oppose reimposition of emergency rule in the run-up to national elections that begin on November 13, saying they needed the restoration of civil liberties to ensure a free and fair vote.
More than 4,800 people have been killed since the revolt began in 1996 — more than 2,900 in the past 10 months.
The rebels have vowed to bring down what they say is a corrupt and feudal political system.
The conflict has aggravated the economic woes of mountainous Nepal, one of the world’s 10 poorest countries, scaring away investors and tourists, who are a major source of hard currency.—Reuters
