NEPAL: Maoist guerrillas and government forces in Nepal fought a pitched battle yesterday in which scores died, after a rebel raid that coincided with an offer of US aid to the Himalayan kingdom.
The Maoists attacked a security post in their remote stronghold of Gam, where troops killed up to 400 guerrillas last week in the biggest single offensive of the six-year rebellion.
"The raid came about midnight and we seem to have lost heavily," one army officer said.
Communications have been cut and bad weather has prevented rescue helicopters from landing.
Army officials said up to 100 rebels, police and soldiers were killed in the battle, about 450 km west of the capital, Kathmandu.
The Interior Minister, Mr Khum Bahadur Khadka, said the government was awaiting detailed casualty figures.
"There were more than 140 soldiers and police officers at Gam and we have lost contact with them," he said.
At least some police and soldiers were known to have survived the clash before communications were lost, the army said.
At least four policemen and 14 rebels also died in separate fighting 400 km east of Kathmandu late on Tuesday and soldiers shot dead four guerrillas in another clash.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the rebellion aimed at toppling the impoverished Hindu kingdom's constitutional monarchy and installing a communist republic.
President Bush told the Nepali Prime Minister, Mr Sher Bahadur Deuba, in Washington yesterday, that the United States would help Nepal against the rebels, Mr Deuba said after the talks.
Neither side has said what form that help might take, but Nepal is seeking guns, ammunition, money and hardware - including transport and combat helicopters - from abroad.
The rebels intensified their campaign after last June's palace massacre in which the popular King Birendra and most other members of the royal family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra, who later shot himself dead.
Nepal has given its army sweeping powers under a state of emergency to crush the guerrillas since they walked out of peace talks in November. The Maoists offered to renew the talks last week but Mr Deuba rejected this and demanded they surrender.
US military experts visited Nepal recently to assess the impoverished South Asian nation's military needs and to gauge what support Washington could provide. The Bush administration is seeking $20 million from Congress to help Kathmandu fight the guerrillas.
The violence has wrecked the aid-dependent economy and driven away tourists, who are a key source of income to the picturesque nation, where Mount Everest draws thousands of backpackers and mountain climbers each year.