December 28 2001
KATHMANDU: At least 21 Maoists were killed overnight and Friday in separate encounters with security forces, police and Defence Ministry said. The bodies of 13 rebels have been recovered after they attempted to overrun district police headquarters at Jumla overnight; four policemen were injured as army and police jointly repulsed the attack police said.
Six Maoists, including a woman, died on the spot when army returned fire in a rebel attack on a patrol Friday in Dandeldhura, the Defence Ministry said. One insurgent died and two others were injured when security forces for the first time in more than one month of search, cordon and destroy operations clashed with rebels at a secret arms manufacturing plant in Sarlahi and destroyed it, the Defence Ministry said. Fourteen Maoists were arrested from the site and weapon spares recovered.
One rebel died in an encounter with the army in Gorkha overnight, an official announcement said. Two children were injured in an accidental bomb explosion in Dhulikhel Friday as an arms disposal squad defused three other concealed explosives after the blast, another announcement said. Maoists overnight bombed and damaged the home of Assistant Law Minister Nagendra Kumar Raya at Phulparasai village in Sarlahi district. They also severely maimed his brother Umesh Raya, family sources said.
Army and police overnight repulsed Maoist attacks on district headquarters in Kailali and Dailekh. The. army seized 14 guns, bombs and explosives from the rebels overnight arresting 62 Maoists and suspects, the Defence Ministry said.
At least 350 Maoists have been killed in military operation since November 23 but fatalities could be as high as 500, Communications Minister Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta said Friday. Another 31 soldiers, 64 policemen, four armed police, two government officials and 36 civilians have been killed since the resumption of hostilities by rebels last month after failed peace talks, he said. Rs.5 million have been recovered from the insurgents in nation-wide searches during the period, he added.