At least 54 people including 48 government security personnel and six civilians were killed Thursday night by the anti-government guerrillas in Nepal, an unnamed local police officer conformed Friday.
"At least 48 government security personnel were killed when a group of guerrilla insurgents suddenly attacked two police posts located in Dang district in the midwest of Nepal on Thursday night, " the police officer said, adding that "six civilians were also killed during the guerrillas attack."
Meanwhile, the anti-government guerrillas also took away a large amount of weapons and explosive materials from the police posts, he added. .
More than 800 guerrillas and over 200 security personnel have been killed since the government imposed the state of emergency on November 26 last year. The government did this following a series of attacks by the guerrillas on the government security forces after they broke a four-month-long cease-fire talks with the government on November 23 last year.
The Nepali government initiated peace talks with the guerrillas since August last year in order to find a peaceful solution to the six-year-long guerrillas insurgency. The insurgency has claimed more than 3,000 lives, including policemen, guerrillas members and civilians, since it began in the Himalayan kingdom in 1996.
However, the three rounds of talks held were inconclusive as the guerrillas demanded the establishment of a republican state, an interim government and a new constitution, which were rejected by the government.
(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2002)
