Maoist Rebels Killed In Nepal

At least 90 Maoist guerrillas were killed by security forces overnight in western Nepal, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

Two army soldiers also were killed and another was wounded in gunbattles with the rebels, the ministry said in a statement.

At least 40 guerrillas were killed Thursday night during a gun battle with Nepalese army forces in Lisne, Rolpa district, 200 miles west of the capital, Katmandu, the statement said.

The fighting in Lisne started when Maoists attacked a team of security forces patrolling the area.

In another incident, at least 50 guerrillas were gunned down by security forces in the village of Bhagal, on the border of Doti and Kailali districts, about 310 miles west of Katmandu, the ministry said.

The ministry's death toll could not independently be confirmed.

More than 150 guerrillas have been killed in the last week, junior Interior Minister Devendra Raj Kandel said.

King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency on Nov. 26, and ordered the army to clamp down on the rebels after they withdrew from peace talks and attacked government troops and offices. The government has since intensified its campaign, after the rebels called for a nationwide strike last week that did not get much public support.

The Maoist insurgency has claimed more than 3,000 lives in the mountainous Himalayan kingdom.

The rebels, who are active in 29 of Nepal's 75 districts, want an end to the constitutional monarchy and sweeping reforms in land ownership. Following Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong's dictum that revolution can come only from the barrel of a gun, the rebels abandoned electoral politics in 1994 and went to war two years later.

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

The intensified fighting comes ahead of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's visit to Washington next week. He is scheduled to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush to discuss the insurgency.

Nepal's government has ruled out peace talks until the rebels give up violence, and is seeking international help to fight them. The Bush administration recently asked Congress for $20 million in military aid for Nepal.