Scores of Maoists killed in Napali clashes

The army officer, who declined to be identified, said in the past two days skirmishes and air strikes had killed at least 35 rebels while the army lost 11 soldiers and seven injured in the fighting.

Five soldiers were killed in the landmine blast and six during engagements in far southwest jungle areas.

"Our securitymen were moving near Bhagwanpur jungle area in Kailali district, when a fairly large number of Maoists attacked one of the four army units in which six soldiers were killed while seven others were injured," the official said.

The soldiers were searching for seven soldiers abducted by the rebels at a village in Kailali district Monday night, the army official said.

The landmine blast on the Prithvi Highway west of Kathmandu is the site of a two-day Maoist blockade of traffic to and from the capital to protest the killing of four rebels last week.

The Maoists are fighting to topple the constitutional monarchy established in 1990. The conflict has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 1996.

Earlier the leader of Nepal's Maoist rebels urged Tuesday a halt to international aid for one of the world's poorest nations to pressure the government into peace talks leading to a new constitution.

The Maoists are fighting to topple the constitutional monarchy established in 1990 in a conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 1996.

"We appeal to the international community to help realize the aspirations of peace and democracy of the Nepalese people by halting all economic, political, military and diplomatic assistance to Nepal," Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda (Fiery One), said in an e-mailed statement.

In 2004 Nepal received nearly 280 million dollars in economic aid, about 60 percent of its development budget, from donors including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the United States, according to the country's National Planning Commission.

Japan is one of Nepal's biggest aid donors followed by Britain and Germany, but Tokyo's embassy was not aware of any appeal to halt aid.

"Our embassy has so far not received any appeals from the Maoists to halt all sorts of aid to Nepal," an embassy official said.

Prachanda also accused the government of failing to hold serious talks for a political settlement. Two rounds of peace talks in the past year have failed with the latest cease-fire ending in October and the government rejecting a rebel demand for UN mediation.