Maoist Rebels Overrun Nepal Army Base

2002, cyberNepal, Inc

Maoist rebels have overrun a Nepal army and police base after military helicopters launched a massive attack on a suspected guerrilla training camp in the west of the country.

The overnight rebel attack on a security post in western Nepal killed more than 100 soldiers and Maoist rebels early Wednesday, according to police and army sources.

The exact number of casualties on both sides could not be confirmed because communication with the remote area has been cut.

The latest attack came as the Nepalese prime minister was in the United States seeking financial and military support in suppressing the Maoists.

While there are no confirmed figures of how many are dead or injured, Nepalese officers on the scene were quoted as saying dozens of guerrillas and security forces have been killed so far.

"The raid came about midnight and we seem to have lost heavily," an officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters news service.

At least 130 police were stationed in Gam in the Rolpa district, where the attack occurred.

Another four policemen and 14 rebels died in separate fighting at Chainpur, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital, Kathmandu, late on Tuesday.

The latest bloodshed comes as U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to help the Himalayan kingdom crush its long and bloody rebellion. Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met Bush in Washington Wednesday to discuss the issue.

"I am very glad, I am very happy, about President Bush (being) supportive to our campaign against terrorism," Deuba said after the meeting.

"He has assured he will help in many ways."

"Nepal is fighting a Maoist rebellion, and Nepal is an example, again, of a democracy, and the United States is committed to helping Nepal," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday.

Neither side said what help Bush might offer, but in the past Nepal has sought money, arms, ammunition and helicopters to combat Maoists fighting to establish communist rule in a six-year conflict that has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

Gesture
The Bush administration has asked Congress to approve $20 million to help Nepal fight the rebels and combat poverty, wire services report.

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post just hours before the talks, Deuba had said that he and all of Nepal was honored by the U.S. gesture.

"The world's only superpower has been at the forefront in the current fight against terrorism, building a global coalition against terrorism," Deuba said.

"We have also suffered from terror campaigns in our country."

Nepal's army last week launched a huge air and ground assault on a suspected Maoist training camp on a mountain in another part of western Nepal, after receiving information that about 1,500 Maoist rebels had assembled in the area.

Royal massacre
The rebels intensified their campaign after last June's palace massacre in which popular king Birendra and most other members of the royal family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra, who later shot himself to death.

Nepal has given its army sweeping powers under a state of emergency to crush the guerrillas since they walked out of peace talks in November.

The Maoists offered to renew the talks last week but Deuba rejected this and demanded they surrender.

The violence has wrecked the aid-dependent economy and driven away tourists, who are a key source of income to the picturesque nation that is home to Mount Everest and draws thousands of backpackers and mountain climbers each year.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Bush has offered help to a string of nations, including Georgia, the Philippines and Yemen, to fight terrorism.

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