The Nepalese army repelled a rebel attack on an army camp, killing about 100 guerillas Tuesday in the second major rebel insurgency on the Royal Nepal Army this month. Rebels were killed in an overnight battle that began when hundreds attacked the base at Khara - a village about 400 kilometers west of Khatmandu.
A defense ministry spokesperson said five soldiers were killed and at least 20 wounded in a fight that began around midnight - hours after King Gyanendra renewed emergency rule which allows the army to join police in fighting the rebel insurgency.
The defense ministry spokesman said that the army recovered large quantities of arms and ammunitions from the fleeing Maoist rebels, who draw their inspiration from the late Chinese revolutionary Mao Tse-tung. The rebels reportedly attacked in waves, and used weapons looted during earlier encounters with the army.
The emergency rule was first imposed last November after the rebels abandoned a cease-fire, saying peace talks were going nowhere. The emergency rule was first imposed last November after the rebels abandoned a cease-fire, saying peace talks were going nowhere.
So far, the Communist insurgency has claimed thousands of lives since they launched their revolt in 1996 in an effort to overthrow Nepal's constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy.
Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba claims that the continuation of emergency rule is crucial for the army to successfully battle the Maoist rebels.
However, this decision has been highly criticized resulting in the expulsion of Prime Minister Deuba from his own Nepali Congress Party. The Nepali Congress, together with other opposition parties, had made public their stand that the emergency had gone on long enough and should come to an end.