Archives

KATHMANDU, May 12 (Reuters) - Nepal's ill-equipped army is regrouping to launch fresh strikes against Maoist rebels in their west Nepal stronghold after two of the deadliest battles in the six-year uprising, officials said on Sunday.

The impoverished Himalayan kingdom's army, which has said it needs everything from boots to bullets and helicopters, said it would withdraw troops from its temporary base in Gam, site of one of the savage clashes, to boost its strength.

"It's a strategic re-grouping to a more advantageous position so we can smoothly launch offensives against the rebels," one army official told Reuters, saying there was no point in remaining in Gam as the rebels had left the area.

The bloody battles between the Nepali forces and Maoist rebels aiming to topple the country's constitutional monarchy have killed more than 4,000 people over the six-year period.

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was due to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Monday to seek military assistance. Last week, the United States told Deuba in Washington it would give $20 million to fight the rebels.

Some 200 rebels and 70 security men were killed last week when around 3,000 guerrillas brandishing automatic weapons and shrieking Maoist slogans stormed a security post in Gam in the Rolpa district, officials say.

That raid came a week after security forces hit rebel training camps elsewhere in Rolpa -- birthplace of the guerrilla movement where the Maoists have declared a "people's government" -- and killed up to 400 militants.

The army said it lost just four security men in that battle but military analysts have been sceptical about the numbers, saying rebel deaths may have been inflated and security forces' casualties under-estimated. The Red Cross said it would send a team on Monday to the area to make an independent report.

Nepal's 50,000 soldiers, backed by an equal number of police, were on high alert for new rebel strikes. "They can attack anywhere and we've got to be ready," one army official said.

State television ran footage on the weekend of decomposed, half-buried bodies, some in rebel camouflage dress, dumped by guerrillas fleeing after the raid on Gam.

Crude unexploded bombs littered the ground. Thatched houses, torched by the rebels who specialise in night-time hit-and-run raids, were charred ruins.

Government officials say rebels force villagers to accompany them as "human shields" when they attack government forces. Those who refuse risk execution. But human rights group Amnesty International says both sides commit atrocities.

The rebels, who stepped up their fight after a June palace bloodbath in which Crown Prince Dipendra massacred popular King Birendra and other royals before killing himself, want to install a communist republic in the world's only Hindu kingdom.

They control a quarter of the strategic Himalayan nation, a buffer state between nuclear giants India and China, and authorities estimate their strength at 10,000 to 15,000.

Last week Nepali newspapers said they got an e-mail from the rebels announcing a unilateral ceasefire to start on Wednesday.

Deuba rejected the ceasefire, saying the rebels would have to lay down arms before any peace talks. A senior rebel leader said later the e-mail was not from the Maoists. 

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager