Post Report
KATHMANDU, April 7 : The Defence Ministry today claimed that the security forces gunned down two dozen armed Maoists in clashes overnight in various districts.
Issuing a press statement here, the Ministry said that 13 rebels were shot dead in an encounter in the jungle of Kothiyaghat of Bardiya district.
The slain rebels were involved in ambushing a vehicle of Royal Nepal Army (RNA) personnel on the road leading to Kothiyaghat area, where five army personnel, including Major Rakesh Shrestha, were killed and several others injured on Saturday afternoon.
Other soldiers killed in the ambush have been identified as Sergeant Nawaraj Ale, Corporal Deepak Biswokarma, and Lance Corporals Krishna Bahadur Gurung and Rana Bahadur Thapa. The injured army personnel are undergoing treatment at the Birendra Military Hospital, the Ministry said.
Major Shrestha’s last rites were performed at Aryaghat in Pashupatinath today and the bodies of other soldiers were flown to their respective home districts for the last rites rituals.
The statement said that a large number of security personnel have been mobilised in the Kothiyaghat jungle area to hunt down the rebels responsible for attacking the security forces.
The Ministry further added that the security forces killed today four armed rebels in Rang area of Rukum and four others in Kumari area of Nuwakot districts. Likewise, one rebel each were killed in Bhurung area of Rukum, Saudiyar area of Dang and Ankhibhuin VDC of Sankhuwasabha district on Sunday.
Bomb disposal-squads of the RNA also defused pressure cooker bombs in three districts. The rebels had planted the bombs at the main gate of a SLC examination centre of Kanya high school in Dhanusha, Chhaisathhi area of Surkhet and Tatopani-base powerhouse of a small hydroelectric project in Myagdi district.
The security forces also confiscated a large amount of foodstuff and clothes hidden by the rebels in Dhulegaon and Lamegaon areas of Rolpa on Saturday. The forces distributed the seized foodstuff among the local poor.
Meanwhile, our reporter in Sindhupalchowk said that the security forces and the rebels exchanged fire in Melamchi yesterday. The rebels had planted landmine on the Melamchi highway at Dhakal Khahare aiming at the army personnel travelling in two vehicles. Security sources said that the army men opened fire in the air for half an hour but no security personnel were hurt in the explosions.
Our reporter in Banke said that around 8,000 people of Khalanga, the district headquarters of Jajarkot, have been deprived of drinking water facility for the last two days after the Maoists blocked the water supply from its reservoir. The pipeline has been brought to Khalanga from the Budbudi River that lies about five kilometres away.
Locals said that the drinking water system was developed by Bal Kumari, the wife of them Rana Prime Minister Dev Shumsher JBR, about 100 years ago. There are no other sources of water as the district headquarters is located on a hilltop. A government employee who landed in Nepalgunj from Jajarkot said the pipeline had not been repaired until Sunday.
Earlier, the rebels had destroyed pipelines of drinking water leading to the district headquarters of Okhaldhunga, Dailekh, Salyan and Khotang in a bid to create panic among the locals and security forces.
Meanwhile, a report from far-eastern mountain district of Taplejung stated that the rebels set 23 VDC offices on fire over the last weekend, said Bijaya Raj Thebe, Chairman of Taplejung District Development Committee. Thebe said that the VDCs are located in remote areas and presence of the security forces is almost non-existent.
Our reporter in the mountain district of Humla, said that the rebels on Saturday looted property and set afire the house of Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, Chairman of Humla District Development Committee, at Kharpunath village, about 20-km south of Simikot, the district headquarters.
This is the second time that the rebels have plundered Shahi’s house. Locals said that the Maoists robbed all his property including a horse before burning his house. Details of the property looted or destroyed on the fire could not assessed as the rebels have warned the locals against travelling to the district headquarters.