74 Maoists killed in battle: Nepal Army

Launching a major offensive against the Maoists exactly a month after the royal takeover, the Nepalese Army shot dead at least 74 rebels and injured dozens while losing five of its own men in fierce clashes in the west of the kingdom, authorities said today.

Nepal’s Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey asked the international community to make it clear whether they support the king’s step or were preparing grounds for one-party communist authoritarianism, a reference to the Maoists. His comments came as the European Union and US-based Human Rights Watch expressed concern over suspension of democratic freedom and incidents of rights violations in Nepal.

The Maoists were killed last night when forces launched attacks using helicopters with night vision capability in a rebel stronghold at Ganeshpur in Bardia district, 600 km west of Kathmandu, security sources said.