Nepalese rebels kill 76 security officers

The Nepalese government has asked the country’s king Gyanendra to declare a state of emergency to give the army the power to launch an all-out assault on Maoist rebels fighting for freedom.

The Nepalese government has asked the country’s king Gyanendra to declare a state of emergency to give the army the power to launch an all-out assault on Maoist rebels.

The rebels killed 76 soldiers, policemen and state officials in a weekend of attacks throughout Nepal.

34 of those were killed in an attack in the mountain village of Solukhumbu last night. The rebels also suffered heavy casualties.

This weekend’s violence followed the collapse of a four-month-old ceasefire and peace talks between rebel leader Prachanda and the government.

Prachanda called off the peace talks on Wednesday after the government rejected his demands for a new constitution.

Nepal’s current constitution recognises the king as the head of state, but the Maoist rebels want to install a socialist republic.

1,800 people have been killed during the six-year-old civil war.