Maoists raid Nepali TV station

The announcement of the violence came as a transport blockade called by the rebels to protest the king's power grab entered its 14th day with armed soldiers escorting supply trucks and passengers buses in and out of the ancient capital.

"At least three dozen Maoists are believed to have been killed in fierce clashes with the security forces," said a statement from the army's western divisional headquarters.

It was not possible to independently verify the report due to the remoteness of the location. Rebels routinely take away the bodies to avoid their identification and their network being uncovered.

The clashes occurred Thursday and Friday in the rebel-dominated far-flung western Kailali district between Thursday and Friday. They were sparked when about 400 rebels attacked forces in the village of Hasulia, the army said.

Three soldiers and a policeman died in a separate clash in Pathariya in far western Nepal Friday. Injured soldiers were airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment, the statement added. It did not say how many troops were hurt.

King Gyanendra declared emergency rule -- including press censorship -- and sacked the government February 1 for what he said was its failure to deal with the Maoist insurgency.

He has offered unconditional peace talks with the rebels, who have denounced him as the "great betrayer."

In other violence, hundreds of suspected Maoist rebels attacked a state-run Nepalese TV station in the remote southwest, forcing the outlet to suspend broadcasting, said a security official who wished to remain unnamed.

The rebels stormed the Nepal Television station at Kohalpur near Nepalgunj town late Thursday and set fire to its offices, he said.

The Maoists destroyed and looted equipment from the station but nobody was injured.