In the bloodiest outbreak of violence in a six-year communist insurgency, more than 40 policemen, seven soldiers and at least 70 Maoists were killed overnight at Salleri, district headquarters of Solu, security sources and civilian officials said.

Maoists broke a four-month truce Friday to negotiate an end to the insurgency that has now claimed more than 2000 lives in Nepal’s worst internal conflict.

Government is contemplating declaring a state of emergency later Monday to crush the Maoists demanding a republic in the world’s only Hindu kingdom and supplanting it with a communist state.