Kathmandu Post

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Five rebels, soldier killed in fresh encounters

KATHMANDU, JAN 13 - A lance corporal of the Royal Nepal Army was killed and another sustained serious injury during a four-hour long exchange of fire with hundreds of Maoist rebels in the Bhimgitthe area of Baglung district.
Security sources said the exchange of fire, which began on Sunday afternoon and was still continuing on Monday. The soldier killed has been identified as Jhala Kanta Sigdel.
The rebels attacked the joint team of security personnel providing security to a camp of the mobile service team. The rebels were creating disturbances on the mobile service team that reached the area to provide basic services to the locals since Thursday.
Security officials in the district headquarters claimed that dozens of rebels were also wounded in the firefight. But the claims could not be confirmed independently, as the battle site is located about a three-day walk from the district headquarters. Reinforcements were sent by helicopter from Pokhara and Bhairahawa to assist the troops at the scene of the clash. The area is believed to be a Maoist stronghold.
Meanwhile, in Jhapa, two Maoists were killed during an encounter on the banks of Kalikhola River at Shantinagar VDC-1 early on Monday, according to security sources. They have been identified as Bikram Rai and Deepak Guragain.
A report from Pancthar stated that three Maoist militants lost their lives on Saturday evening when a bomb they were carrying exploded, in the Nagin VDC.
One of them had died on the spot while two others died due to injuries sustained after other militants brought them to Surkenagi of the Yangnam VDC-7. The identities of the three are yet to be established. Villagers of the Yangnam VDC said that the rebels buried the bodies of two rebels at Surkenagi where they had died.
Meanwhile, a report from Kailali said that 40 of the 60 families of Khimdi village of Pandaun VDC have returned to their homes, two months after the fierce Pandaun battle between the government forces and the rebel fighters.
The families had deserted their homes after security personnel threatened to kill them and burn down their houses if they did not leave their village within a week.
A fact-finding mission of the National Human Rights Commission, which visited the village recently, said that 20 families were yet to return. Dil Bahadur Rana, a teacher at a local school said that the villagers dared to come back after human rights activists and media persons paid regular visits to the village ruined by the battle.
In Makwanpur, the rebels captured and put a lock at the Ambhanjyang-based house of Krishna Prasad Sanjel, who was recently appointed by the government as a member of the Makwanpur District Development Committee. Issuing a statement today, the Maoists warned that they would capture his entire property if he did not resign from the post within a week.
A report from Pokhara stated that a group of armed rebels looted about Rs half-a-million from Rastriya Banijya Bank and Dairy Distribution Project, both of which are located near Pokhara Industrial Estate. Police said that dozens of rebels took the bank guards under control and robbed Rs 4,49,000 from bank and Rs 42,500 from the Dairy Distribution Project. The rebels fled the scene riding on a mini-truck parked at the industrial estate. Posted on: 2004-01-14 04:11

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