Nepal Claims It Killed 350 Maoist Rebels

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

AP via Yahoo - Sat May 4, 9:44 PM ET 

Nepal Troops Kill 350 Maoist Rebels 

By CHIJISH POUDEL, Associated Press Writer 

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Security forces killed at least 350 guerrillas
in gunbattles in western Nepal, the Defense Ministry said Saturday,
in what would be the deadliest fighting in the rebels' 6-year-old
campaign to oust the constitutional monarchy.

The bloodshed comes days before Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba
travels to Washington to discuss the communist insurgency with
President Bush. The Bush administration recently asked Congress for
$20 million in military aid to Nepal.

The attack by security forces on rebel camps and hide-outs in the
Lisne area of Rolpa district, a guerrilla stronghold some 220 miles
west of Katmandu, began Thursday and lasted until Friday night, the
ministry said in a statement.

"The rebels have suffered heavy losses. Army soldiers and police have
destroyed most of their training camps in that region," Devendra Raj
Kandel, the junior interior minister, told The Associated Press.

The death toll could not be confirmed independently. The rebels do
not comment on battles.

The rebels, who are demanding sweeping land reforms and an end to the
constitutional monarchy, draw their inspiration from Chinese
revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung. Since 1996, fighting has killed
more than 3,500 people, crippled Nepal's aid-dependent economy and
scared away tourists from this Himalayan kingdom of exquisite beauty.

On Friday, the government said the army had killed 40 guerrillas. The
death toll increased to 350 by Friday night as security forces
searched for more hide-outs and killed more guerrillas, including
several local rebel commanders, the government said Saturday.

Several rebels were also arrested during the army offensive in Rolpa,
which came after Maoists attacked security forces patrolling the
area, the Defense Ministry said. Two soldiers and one policeman were
also killed in the fighting.

Elsewhere, security forces killed another six rebels in three
separate shootouts on Friday night, the ministry said.

The rebels are active in 29 of Nepal's 75 districts. Rolpa, this
week's battle ground, is considered a Maoist stronghold.

State Department spokesman Frederick Jones had no comment on the
recent round of violence. "The United States has consistently
condemned the violence by the Maoist insurgents," he said.

Human rights groups have accused both the security forces and the
insurgents of killing civilians and committing other atrocities since
King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency in November. The
emergency came after the rebels called off peace talks and renewed
attacks on government targets.

Until the latest battles, the highest previous death toll was on
April 11-12, when more than 200 policemen and guerrillas were killed
in western Dang district.

Kandel said security forces have killed more than 500 guerrillas
since the previous week, when the government ruled out negotiations
with the rebels and Deuba said he would "crush them" with force.

The government intensified its campaign against the rebels after they
called a nationwide strike, which did not get much public support.

On Friday, Deuba rejected a reported offer by rebel leader Prachand
to hold peace talks. Nepali newspapers on Thursday said they had
received a statement from the rebels' elusive leader Prachand, whose
real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, offering to resume talks.

"The army is determined to stamp out the rebels," Kandel, the junior
interior minister, said.

"There will be no talks until the rebels lay down their arms," he
said adding, the army had seized large amounts of weapons and
ammunition in the Rolpa attack.
 
=================================================================
  NY Transfer News Collective   *   A Service of Blythe Systems 
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us          
              339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012             
  http://www.blythe.org                  e-mail: nyt@blythe.org 
=================================================================
 
nytas-05.04.02-22:21:09-2194