| bardan |
Posted
on 25-Mar-04 12:15 PM
RNA scuttled Maoist plan of three-day siege of Myagdi HQ
Rekha Shrestha
Beni, March 25:
The Maoists would have captured Beni, the Myagdi district headquarters, for three days and nights, to pressurise the government, had the security forces not fought well continuously for 12 hours, a seized video cassette has revealed.
“The Maoists were desperate to overrun the entire Beni force, but their plan went haywire,” the commander of the Kali Prasad Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Raju Nepali, said today.
About 1,500 Maoists of the thousands who turned out on the day of the attack were hard-
core militants. This has been revealed by a seized video cassette in which the Maoist division commander Nanda Kishore Pun, alias Pasang, is shown briefing the armed Maoists some weeks ago about the Beni attack in an unknown location.
The rebel commander in his briefing is shown using a “town model” of Beni to ensure everything goes well. “The attack will be historical,” the commander is shown telling the thousands of militants, mostly under 20 years old. The Maoists were confident about their victory in Beni as they had thought that army engineers don’t have the supporting weapons like 81mm mortar and General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) in their barracks.
However, a borrowed 81mm mortar from the RNA brigade headquarters in Pokhara turned useful for the Kali Prasad Battalion in countering the Maoists’ heavy firing of 81mm mortars. “More than 40 cells of 81 mm mortars were dropped on a single observation post at the gate of the army barrack before a group, including a so-called brigade commander, penetrated into the barrack,” a soldier recalls.
However, a senior Maoist commander’s AK47 fell down and the other Maoists behind him were pushed back again. Security forces have so far recovered only 120 Maoists’ bodies in Arthu-gedanda, Jyamiredanda and on the Kali Gandaki riverbeds, but locals agree with the army’s statement that more than 500 Maoists were killed.
“The way the Maoists had carried their comrades, it seems several hundreds of them could have been killed,” said one Khaga Raj Poudel, 60, of Arthunge Danda, from where the Maoists had fired mortars to destroy government buildings. The army is conducting ambush and aerial operations in several ‘blocking positions’ near Beni. Already, as many as 19 Maoists were killed in the army ambush, while details of the aerial raids were not given.
After watching the recovered video cassette, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Pyar Jung Thapa, said: “Under the circumstances, it turned out to be a historical blow for the Maoists.” He also gave away an appreciation letter and a cash prize to Kali Prasad Battalion commander.
“Normally, the Maoists run away in the morning after a heavy attack at night, but this time, they continued fighting till late in the morning next day to achieve their aim,” RNA’s western Division commander, Brigadier General Prakash Bahadur Basnet, said, adding: “However, the Maoists returned with a defeated mentality.”
Madhav Regmi of the Nepal Red Cross said the security forces maintained discipline to reduce civilian casualties. The Maoists used civilian houses as their bases to supply ammunition.
Abducted DSP hurt
Kathmandu: An army helicopter accidentally wounded Deputy Superintendent of Police Rana Bahadur Gautam, who had been kidnapped from Beni and was being held by the Maoists, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The official said seven troops and two rebels were killed on Thursday in Niskot near Beni as the army fought for the second day with Maoists who survived the weekend clashes. — AFP
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