Nepal Guerrillas Win Battle
Maoist guerrillas and government forces in Nepal fought a pitched battle that killed dozens Wednesday, after a rebel raid that coincided with an offer of U.S. aid to the Himalayan kingdom.
More than 100 soldiers and police were killed in the remote western village of Gam, where about 500 Maoist guerrillas surrounded a joint army-police base late Tuesday, a senior officer of the Royal Nepalese Army told The Associated Press.
"The raid came about midnight and we seem to have lost heavily," one army officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
The death toll could not be independently confirmed, since journalists and human rights groups have not been allowed into the areas of fighting.
Troops killed up to 400 guerrillas last week in Gam in the biggest single offensive of the six-year rebellion.
Communications have been cut and bad weather has prevented rescue helicopters from landing, senior army officers told Reuters, adding reinforcements were on the way.
Gam is a stronghold of Maoist insurgents who have been fighting to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy since 1996. It is about 280 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu.
Army helicopters ferried soldiers to Gam after dawn Wednesday to try to help the trapped forces. The helicopters were not able to land, however, due to bad weather, the officer said.
While the fighting raged Tuesday night, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and President Bush met in Washington to discuss U.S. aid for Nepal. The Bush administration recently asked Congress for $20 million in non-combat assistance for Nepal.
"Nepal is fighting a Maoist rebellion, and Nepal is an example, again, of a democracy, and the United States is committed to helping Nepal," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday.
Neither side has said what form that help might take, but Nepal is seeking guns, ammunition, money and hardware — including transport and combat helicopters — from abroad.
At least four policemen and 14 rebels also died in separate fighting 250 miles east of Kathmandu late Tuesday and soldiers shot dead four guerrillas in another clash.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the rebellion aimed at toppling the impoverished Hindu kingdom's constitutional monarchy and installing a communist republic.
The rebels intensified their campaign after last June's palace massacre in which popular king Birendra and most other members of the royal family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra, who later shot himself dead.
Nepal has given its army sweeping powers under a state of emergency to crush the guerrillas since they walked out of peace talks in November. The Maoists offered to renew the talks last week but Deuba rejected this and demanded they surrender.
U.S. military experts visited Nepal recently to assess the impoverished South Asian nation's military needs and to gauge what support Washington could provide, officials said. The Bush administration is seeking $20 million from Congress to help Kathmandu fight the guerrillas.
The violence has wrecked the aid-dependent economy and driven away tourists, who are a key source of income to the picturesque nation that is home to Mount Everest and draws thousands of backpackers and mountain climbers each year.