60 rebels killed in Nepal

Nepal’s army said today it killed at least 60 communist rebels in fighting in the remote mountains in the country’s mid-west.

An army patrol came under attack late last night near the village of Dalfing in Rukum district, about 250 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu.

In the ensuing fighting, the army killed at least 60 rebels, said Major Sushil Dahal at the Royal Nepalese Army headquarters in Kathmandu.

Details were still sketchy because the fighting was in a remote part of the country which is mostly controlled by the rebels.

No casualties were reported on the army side.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, began fighting to overthrow the monarchy and establish a communist state in 1996. More than 11,500 people have been killed in the insurgency.