Rebels Kill At Least 56 In Nepal

At least 56 soldiers and policemen were killed in an overnight attack by Maoist rebels on a mountain town in central Nepal, officials said Monday, in the deadliest rebel assault since the government lifted a state of emergency two weeks ago. Dozens were reported injured.

The assault came a day after rebels attacked a remote mountain outpost southeast of the capital, killing at least 49 police officers as part of their increasingly bloody campaign to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy and set up a one-party communist republic in the desperately poor Himalayan nation.

Reports from the scene of the lastest attack said the rebels struck government offices in Sandhikhara, about 190 miles west of Katmandu, at around midnight and that gun battles with security forces continued Monday morning. Helicopter pilots flying in reinforcements said smoke was still billowing from buildings set ablaze by the rebels.

A government rescue helicopter that came to evacuate the wounded was attacked as it approached the town and was forced to return to base, said Nepal's junior interior minister, Devendra Raj Kadel. Another rescue helicopter was able to evacuate 21 injured, he added. Rescue operations using helicopters were on-going, said Home Minister Khum Bahadur.

Troops were being dropped from helicopters in nearby areas to reinforce soldiers around the town.

Details were still patchy as communications links to the town had been severed.

According to Defense Ministry spokesman Bhupendra Poudel, "during the attack 16 soldiers and 40 policemen were killed while two police officials and a government official have been kidnapped by the rebels." Earlier radio reports had put the death toll higher.

Poudel said the rebels kidnapped an assistant chief district official identified as Baburam Khatiwada, who was the highest ranking government official in Sandhikhara.

The rebels have intensified their attacks since Aug. 28 when the government lifted a state of emergency imposed last year that gave security forces sweeping powers to detain people without trial.

The emergency was lifted after opposition politicians expressed concerns it could hinder parliamentary elections set for November.

Nearly 5,000 people have been killed since the rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, began their insurgency six years ago.