- KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuters)
- 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 Monday.
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- Defense Ministry spokesman Bhupendra Prasad Poudel said
rebels "in their thousands" raided Sandhikharka, a remote valley
town 185 miles west of the capital Kathmandu, Sunday night.
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- "Fifty-eight people -- 40 policemen, 17 soldiers
and one civilian -- have been killed in the attack," Poudel told Reuters.
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- State-run radio said the rebels used civilians as human
shields.
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- "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.
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- Helicopter pilots flying in reinforcements saw smoke
billowing from buildings in the town.
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- The latest attack by Maoist rebels, who are fighting
to overthrow the Himalayan nation's constitutional monarchy, began 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.
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- Officials quoted residents of Sandhikharka as saying
they saw rebels carrying away dead and wounded comrades on their backs.
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- There was no independent confirmation of the death toll
or any comment from the rebels who began their uprising in 1996.
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- The rebels have stepped up their offensive in the desperately
poor nation in recent weeks after a four-month lull.
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- 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.
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- REINFORCEMENTS
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- Troops were dropped from helicopters and were scouring
the area looking for the insurgents, the Home Ministry spokesman said.
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- A cabinet minister told Reuters the government may have
to reimpose emergency rule, which gives security forces sweeping search
and detention powers.
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- "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 Tuesday.
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- 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.
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- More than 4,800 people have been killed since the revolt
began in 1996 -- more than 2,900 in the past 10 months.
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- The rebels have vowed to bring down what they say is
a corrupt and feudal political system.
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- 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.
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