Nepal: Rebels strike hard, 120 police dead

Nepal Rebels Hit 4 Towns, Kill 54

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Associated Press Writer

April 12, 2002, 7:09 AM EDT


KATMANDU, Nepal -- Rebels armed with bombs and guns staged almost simultaneous attacks on four towns in western Nepal, killing 48 policemen and six civilians, the government said Friday.

The attacks Thursday night targeted the federal interior security minister's house, a police station, a bus, two banks and an electricity station in two towns. The rebels also fought a gunbattle with army troops in two other towns.

It was one of the bloodiest nights in the rebels' six-year-old campaign to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy with a communist state. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

The attacks took place in Dang district, about 190 miles west of the capital, Katmandu, the junior internal security minister, Devendra Raj Kadel, said.

The rebels, who belong to a banned group calling itself the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), usually don't issue statements after attacks and do not operate offices in the country.

The fiercest attack took place on the house of Interior Security Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka in Satbariya, which was being guarded by at least 120 personnel of the newly formed Armed Police Force. It was established last year to quell the insurgency.

Officials said the rebels hurled bombs at the minister's house and opened fire at guards, triggering a battle that lasted several hours. At least 35 policemen were killed, said Kadel. It was not immediately known if any guerrillas were killed.

However, Sarad Khatri Chetri, a local newspaper reporter, said 41 policemen were killed and 29 injured, most of them critically. Chetri's account could not be independently verified.

Kadel said the interior security minister was in Katmandu Thursday night, "but he has gone to the area now, and so has (national) police chief Pradeep Sumshere Rana."

"We have also sent reinforcements," he said.

Kadel said that in the nearby town of Lamahi, the rebels raided a police station, killing 13 policemen and injuring 15. The guerrillas also waylaid a bus on a highway and killed six civilians before setting the vehicle on fire, Kadel said.

The rebels also bombed two banks in Lamahi and the electricity supply house, cutting power and communication in the area.

Around the same time, another group of rebels attacked Ghorahi, the headquarters of Dang district, and Tulsipur, but were repulsed by the military after a gunbattle. There were no casualties.

A state of emergency was imposed on Nov. 26 by King Gyanendra after the rebels withdrew from peace talks, and the army was mobilized to help the police fight the guerrillas.

Rights group Amnesty International has accused both the security forces and the insurgents of killing civilians and committing atrocities.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-nepal-rebels0412apr12.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines





Maoist Rebels Gun Down 84 Nepalese Cops

KATMANDU, Nepal, April 12 (UPI) -- Hundreds of heavily armed Maoist rebels attacked two police stations in southwestern Nepal on Friday, killing at least 84 police officers, officials said.

At least 12 rebels and six civilians also were killed in the attacks on police stations in Bhalubang, Lamahi and Satbariya in Dang District.

Radio Nepal, quoting government sources, said nearly 50 officers were killed while India's Star TV news reported the overall death toll to be 102, including 84 policemen.

An official at the Katmandu police control room told United Press International scores of people were killed and the exact number of causalities were unknown.

"All I can say is that many people have been killed and Maoists looted the police armory," the official said. "Rebels have taken away all out guns and ammunition."

He said more than 2,000 rebels are believed to have participated in the attacks that began late Thursday night and continued till early Friday morning.

Police have recovered the bodies of 12 rebels and six civilians.

More than 3,200 people have been killed in the six years of the Maoist uprising aimed at replacing Nepal's constitutional monarchy with communist rule.

King Gyanendra issued a state of emergency Nov. 26 and ordered army to fight the insurgents who have often indulged in hit-and-run attacks on the government installations.

http://nepal.asiaco.com/news/news/external.cgi?http://www.insightmag.com/news/236044.html







Nepal's Maoists Kill at Least 50 in Battles
Fri Apr 12, 8:18 AM ET
By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Maoist rebels using rocket launchers and bombs killed more than 50 people, many of them policemen, in a string of attacks on police posts in western Nepal, the government said on Friday.

The attacks late on Thursday were the deadliest against security forces since February.

A witness said the rebels attacked the police posts in three villages in Dang district, 280 miles west of Kathmandu.

"We were all terrified, we had no sleep," Goti Buddha, a local journalist in Satbariya village, told Reuters by telephone.

Some buildings were still smoldering in Satbariya after being torched by the rebels. The guerrillas also looted two state banks in nearby Lamahi village and cut power lines in the area, he said.

"The death toll now is 54," said junior home (interior) minister Devendra Raj Kandel.

Soldiers were sent to area but rebels blocked roads with logs, police said.

The victims included 35 policemen in Satbariya and 13 in Lamahi as well as six passengers of a bus set alight by the rebels. There were no casualties in Bhaluwang village.

It was the deadliest attack by the insurgents since February 22 when they killed 34 policemen.

The number of casualties suffered by the rebels was unknown because they normally take their dead with them after an assault.

The rebels are fighting to overthrow Nepal's constitutional monarchy and to set up a one-party communist republic in the impoverished Himalayan country.

They launched their campaign in 1996 and stepped up their attacks after walking out of peace talks last year.

Nepal has imposed a state of emergency to quell the revolt and given the army sweeping powers to crack down on the rebels.

BOLSTERED DRIVE

The country bolstered its counter-insurgency drive after 167 people, mainly soldiers, police and rebels, died in a massive guerrilla offensive in Nepal in mid-February.

The revolt has claimed more than 3,000 lives since 1996 and badly hit the economy of the tourist-dependent nation that draws thousands of backbackers and mountain climbers a year.

It has also forced heavily aid-reliant Nepal to divert development money into the anti-rebel fight.

Nepal has been racked by turmoil since a palace bloodbath last June when most of the royal family, including popular King Birendra, were murdered [..].

Late last year, Nepal mobilized its army for the first time against the guerrillas, a job previously done by poorly trained police.

But Nepal's mountain terrain has hampered the army's fight to flush out the rebels from their hideouts.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&ncid=586&e=5&u=/nm/20020412/wl_nm/nepal_rebels_dc





Friday April 12, 10:14 PM
Maoist rebels launch assault on police in Nepal

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Thousands of Nepalese Maoist rebels killed 84 policemen in night-time raids that left more than 100 people dead and marked a bloody escalation of their six-year-old insurgency, officials said.

In the deadliest attacks since February, the ultra-leftist guerrillas overran two police stations in the jungle district of Dang, some 450 kilometres (281 miles) southwest of the capital Kathmandu.

"Nearly 3,000 Maoist rebels suddenly attacked two police posts at Satbaria and Lamahi areas in Dang district late Thursday night," a senior home ministry official told AFP on Friday.

Thirty-five policemen were killed at Satbaria when Maoists attacked a post set up to guard the provincial residence of Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka.

Khadka, who was in Kathmandu at the time, was dispatched to the district to assess the damage and report back to parliament.

Another 49 policemen died in the attacks on police posts in Lamahi and farther southwest at Bhaluwang, officials said. Twelve rebels were confirmed dead.

Six civilians were also burnt to death when the Maoists stopped and torched a night bus heading towards Bardia, southwest of Dang district, a home ministry source said.

It was the deadliest assault by the Maoists since February, when they killed 128 policemen.

The most devastating attack of the rebel campaign prompted Nepal's fractious parliament to prolong by three months a state of emergency imposed in late November.

Observers said the latest attacks marked a new strategy by the Maoists, who in the past have carried out hit-and-run raids on security forces and then disappeared into the bush.

But security sources said the Maoists were holding on to the police posts and had set up barriers on surrounding roads, apparently daring the army to strike back at them.

The rebels also set fire to some of the thick jungle to block helicopters from sending in reinforcements.

The attacks will likely put more pressure on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is fending off bids to oust him by rivals within his Nepali Congress party clamoring for tougher action.

Deuba took power in July and immediately reached a ceasefire with the rebels, who exercise de facto control over swathes of the impoverished countryside.

But three rounds of peace talks failed to reach a breakthrough, particularly over Maoist demands to abolish the monarchy. The rebels launched a spate of attacks on November 24, ending the truce and prompting the government for the first time to deploy the army against them.

Since then close to 1,200 people have been killed, on top of 1,800 who had already died since the Maoists launched their "people's war" in 1996.

At Satbaria post, which had been manned by around 100 armed policemen, some 1,000 rebels looted everything they could find, including automatic rifles, guns and ammunition, security sources said.

Officials said the rebels also looted a nearby bank and smashed a power station.

The officer in charge of Satbaria had asked for reinforcements during the battle, but helicopters have been obstructed by heavy rain around the kingdom.

The isolated country has received international assurances of support to battle the rebels, particularly from India, which by treaty is Nepal's chief supplier of military hardware.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/020412/afp/020412141433top.html








At least 12 dead in Dang attack

Unconfirmed reports say APF toll could be over 120

KOL Report

KATHMANDU, April 12 - More details are emerging of a major fighting between security forces and Maoists terrorists in western Dang district with the latest reports saying at least 12 people, including police and two civilians, are now known to have died. Defence sources are now saying as many as 120 APF personnel have been killed during Maoist offensive in Saatbaria area of the same district. The report has not been officially confirmed.

Large groups of Maoists terrorists are reported to have launched simultaneous attacks in Lamahi and Saatbaria areas of the district. Their main target was the area police office in Lamahi and a house belonging to Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka where more than a hundred Armed Police Force (APF) personnel were stationed.

Reports said the fighting began with the Maoists cutting of electricity supply to the two areas at around 10 p.m. Thursday night. At least 10 policemen including an inspector are now known to have died in fighting in Lamahi. One civilian was also killed there. Maoists also reportedly killed another civilian, a owner of a night bus, in Bhaluwang area of the district.

In Saatbaria, Maoists launched an offensive against the APF. Details about the fighting there are sketchy but initial unconfirmed reports provided by Defence sources to Kantipur Online said as many as 120 APF personnel were killed in the attack. The Maoists also looted all the weapons which, the source said included SLR rifles and Sub-Machine Guns (SMG). Their base is reported to have been completely overrun.

It is not clear if the Maoists suffered casualties. However, reports said the Maoists themselves have suffered heavy casualties. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

More details are to follow. (rk)

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kol_news.html





15 soldiers hurt in road mishap

KOL Report

SUNSARI, April 12 - At least 15 soldiers of the Royal Nepal Army were injured, six of them seriously, after a loaded truck in which they were traveling met with an accident at Bhantabari of Haripur VDC on the East-West highway on Thursday, police here said.

Sunsari District Police Office said that the seriously injured soldiers were rushed to the B P Koirala Memorial Hospital in Dharan. The truck (Ba 1 Ga 1336) belonging to Pashupati Prasad Gan (barrack) was on its way to Sindhuli with a load of ration from Sunsari. (yo)

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kol_news.html