Rights group: 936 people missing in Nepal conflict

NEPAL: As many as 936 people who went missing a 10-year communist insurgency in Nepal remain unaccounted for, a human rights group said on Thursday.

The independent National Human Rights Commission said it has investigated hundreds of cases of disappearances since the conflict began in 1996.

Maoist rebels have been blamed for abducting people they suspected were government informants or political opponents, keeping them captive and in many cases executing them. At the same time, the military has been blamed for arresting anyone suspected of having links to the rebels and denying them access to family members or lawyers.

Since the government and the rebels declared a cease-fire and began peace talks in April this year, the commission has been able to begin investigating the disappearances.

Most of the disappearances occurred over the past three years, when fighting between government troops and the rebels escalated, the commission said.

Since the rebels began their fight in 1996, more than 13,000 people have been killed. Meanwhile, news reports said a pregnant woman died while being held captive by the rebels.

kathmandu, Thursday, AP