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Kathmandu Sunday February 24, 2002 Falgun 12, 2058.
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At least 40 rebels gunned down in
operations
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 23: The security forces in their
search-and-destroy operations against the Maoists yesterday killed at least 40 rebels in
Achham, Dang, Doti, Salyan and Surkhet districts, said a Defence Ministry press release
here today. Separate reports also said that two civilians were killed by the rebels
yesterday.
According to the Ministry, 15 Maoists who were
"involved" in last week’s attacks against the security forces in Achham
district were gunned down during an encounter yesterday. The encounter took place when the
Maoists were trying to flee from the Kullimara and Tadighat Pass of Achham district, said
the release. From the site of the shoot-out, the security forces have recovered a large
cache of looted arms and ammunitions including some SLRs.
In another operation yesterday in Dugdhalagna, a village
bordering Kalikot and Achham districts, the security forces killed at least 13 Maoists who
were trying to put blockades along a busy trail. The security men are in the pursuit of
more "terrorists" in the area, said the Ministry. The forces also confiscated
"a large number" of socket bombs, explosives and guns from Dugdhalagna.
The release further stated that separate groups of security
men shot dead four "terrorists" in the Alleri area of Dang district, three in
the Sitalpati area of Salyan, and two in the Gopghat area of Doti today.
The Ministry as well as reports from our Surkhet-based
correspondent said that three Maoist rebels were killed in an encounter with the security
forces at the Guthau area, some 52 kilometres from the district headquarters. Among the
killed were some top rebels, including commander Khadananda Kafle (alias Himal) and
sub-commander Karna Bahadur Rana (alias Atal).
The security personnel also destroyed a training camp of the
Maoists in the Chhapra area of Kalikot district. The camp is known to have been used by
the Maoists of Achham, Bajura and Kalikot districts for training their cadres. From the
camp, a large amount of training materials, food and other items of daily use, were
seized, the release said.
The release also said that a group of "terrorists"
in Krishnapur VDC-7 of Kanchanpur district hacked 25-year-old Nirmal Ojha to death
yesterday night. Similarly, the Maoists also abducted two civilians from Raniyapur VDC-1
of Banke district yesterday night.
Our correspondent from Banke district reported today that a
group of Maoists murdered Rambaran Yadav, a farmer of Sonpur village, on Friday night.
Yadav’s dead body was found in a field on Saturday morning. In the same village, the
rebels also severely beat up two other farmers, Chetram Radh and Baburam Radh, said our
correspondent.
Meanwhile, a child in the Tal Dompho area of Bhaktapur
district sustained minor injuries when a suspicious packet—supposedly left behind by
the Maoists—that he was carrying, went off. The security forces defused two other
such packets.
The Defence Ministry in a separate statement issued here
today, has requested all the citizens to co-operate with the security forces in their
venture to flush out the "terrorists". The statement has also thanked the people
for their support so far.
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