Three hundred Maoists have been killed and an equal number were injured in clashes with security forces after rebels unilaterally broke a ceasefire August 27, Army Spokesman Col. Dipak Gurung said Wednesday.
Altogether 29 soldiers were killed and 58 others were injured in clashes, he said. A police officer said 42 civil police and 56 others have been injured after a fresh outbreak of violence.
“The Army has made major gains while the rebels have suffered big reverses,” he said. Col. Gurung said the Maoists have targeted innocent civilians in attacks after the reverses.
“They declared a cease-fire. They are running short of arms and ammunition. They also have recruitment problems. Their morale is low. Therefore, we have made great successes.”
“Most of their attacks have been during the day on small patrols. The army has been chasing them,” he said. “They were not arrested as journalists,” Col. Gurung said on a query about journalists and their whereabouts. This is a security and intelligence matter. I cannot comment further on that.”
“The government has asked to maintain law and order,” the Spokesman said in response to another question what the Army will do in response to an unilateral nine-day ceasefire announced by rebels from Thursday for the festive season.
“That is fiction,” Col. Gurung said in reply to a question whether the Army was an obstacle to peace talks.
“We have made important gains,” he said in the murder and attempted murder of two Army colonels in the capital this month without divulging details.
“There is no evidence so far that the Maoists have armed themselves with new and improved weapons,” Col. Gurung said in reply to a question whether such evidence has been discovered during present operations.
Col. Gurung said the Valley Integrated Command headed by a Maj. General has taken charge of security in the Valley after indiscriminate murders by rebels in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.