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Posted
on 20-Feb-02 06:25 PM
February 20, 2002
Nepalese Troops Kill a Dozen Rebels
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:57 a.m. ET
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Security forces shot and killed four Maoist rebels in the town of Kalikot west of the capital, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Eight more died elsewhere in overnight gun battles, authorities said.
A police officer also was killed when rebels attacked a police post at Dhimuwa, 125 miles west of Katmandu, Interior Security Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers debated extending the state of emergency in this Himalayan kingdom by another three months. A state of emergency was imposed Nov. 26 after the rebels abruptly broke off peace talks and resumed fighting government forces.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged Parliament to extend the emergency decree to give the army time to crush the rebellion in the wake of a fierce rebel attack over the weekend.
In the deadliest attack since they launched their insurgency in 1996, the rebels killed 137 people -- 77 police officers, 55 soldiers, an intelligence officer and four civilians -- in the town of Mangalsen on Sunday, Khadka said.
Security forces have recovered the bodies of 13 rebels from Mangalsen, 375 miles northwest of Katmandu, he said. Witnesses also reported seeing rebels taking away more bodies of fallen fighters, he said.
More than 2,400 people have died since the rebels took up arms six years ago this week in a campaign to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy. The rebels draw their inspiration from the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung.
The army says it has killed nearly 500 guerrillas and arrested another 1,400 since late November. Authorities say more than 300 soldiers and officers also have died.
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