Nepalese army rescues 600 abducted students

"The security forces managed to rescue Sunday 600 students abducted from Niskot area of Myagdi district," an army statement said.

Earlier Sunday, the army said that in a separate series of abductions, some 650 students had been taken from schools in western Nepal in the last week or "several days".

The latest abductions included at least 450 students from villages in the Tanahun, Palpa, and Baglung districts, and another 200 from a school in the western district of Salyan.

The army said it had little information on where the students were being held, but termed the abductions "inhuman and a violation of human rights."

Rebels have been known to round up students to indoctrinate them with Maoist ideology, but normally return most of them unharmed.

The practice has drawn criticism from Nepalese and international rights groups who have appealed to the guerrillas to protect students from the violence.

Meanwhile, four international aid agencies suspended their operations in western Nepal earlier Sunday after their aid workers were beaten by rebels.

The World Food Programme, Britain's Department for Internati-onal Development, the German Technical Cooperation, and the Dutch Aid Agency SNV, all ended their operations after investigating alleged beatings in the village of Sukariya, 550km west of Kathmandu.

"The investigation concluded that Maoist cadres seriously assaulted one male and one female staff member," the statement said.

The groups expressed regret over the suspension of their work, adding, "But we cannot put our staff at further risk.

Meanwhile, four Maoist rebels and four security personnel were killed in a weekend clash in southeastern Nepal, a Royal Nepalese army statement said yesterday.

"At least four Maoist rebels, three soldiers and a policeman were killed when they clashed at Sandhale in Sindhuli district Sunday afternoon," the statement said.