Rebel uprising leaves 21 dead along India-Nepal border

Security forces fought rebels in a fierce gun battle today near India’s border with Nepal, leaving 21 dead in the first co-ordinated attack involving both Indian and Nepalese communist militants, police said.

The gun battle was triggered when some 400 suspected Maoist rebels attacked a police station and two state-run banks in Bihar state’s Madhuban village yesterday, said Director-General of Police Ashish Ranjan Sinha, the state police chief.