Maoists Thursday have claimed that they have taken eight more soldiers into their captivity after the overnight battle with the security forces at Pili base camp in the remote mid-western district of Kalikot.

Maoists revealed this issuing a statement Thursday afternoon. With this, the total number of security personnel under Maoists captivity has reached 60.

Earlier, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, Prachanda, in a statement, said that his party had captured 52 soldiers and that they would release them all at an appropriate time following due process.

Meanwhile, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among others, have urged the Maoists to treat the security personnel under their control as per the Geneva Conventions and release them unharmed.