Maoists attack Nepal district HQ

The rebels attacked Khalanga, the headquarters of the Jumla district, late Saturday and fought security forces for about six hours, said Keshav Prasad Baral, deputy inspector general of police in the western city of Nepalgunj.

He said the exact casualty figure was not known from the clash in Jumla, one of the most remote districts of the Himalayan kingdom and about 445 kilometres (278 miles) northwest of Kathmandu. But he said one soldier was killed and six policemen were missing.

"The rebels also broke into jail to rescue five prisoners, while they kidnapped six policemen," Baral said.

He said the rebels bombed the airport and several government buildings, badly damaging a police post, a development office and a land revenue bureau. A police post normally has around 150 men.

Baral said the army sent a night vision helicopter over the city to monitor the situation. The Maoists, who are strongest in rural Nepal, lack weapons adapted to nighttime fighting.

Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka told AFP that the rebels had also taken hostage an unknown number of junior officials of the local revenue office and the post office.

"Of the prisoners who were freed by the rebels, three returned to the jail," Khadka added.

Quoting local villagers, he said the bodies of five dead rebels and 20 others who had been injured in the assault had been carried away by their colleagues.

The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to turn the kingdom into a communist republic, a struggle which has claimed nearly 10,000 lives.

The rebels launched a similar strike on Khalanga in 2002 when 60 policemen were killed.