At least 29 people – 18 Maoists and 11 security men – were killed in a fierce clash between the Maoists and the security forces at Panena, a bordering area between western Arghakhanchi and Palpa districts on Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Wednesday.

18 bodies of rebels killed in the daylong gun-battle were recovered during a search today, a MoD statement said, confirming that 11 security personnel – 10 Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) soldiers and one policeman – lost their lives in the skirmish.

Meanwhile, issuing a statement today, the ‘Western Military Command’ of the CPN (Maoist) claimed that 20 security men were killed and arms and ammunitions were seized from the security forces during the clash. It admitted that eight Maoist fighters were killed in the incident.