Maoists kill dozens in Nepal police attack

Maoist rebels have been fighting to abolish Nepal's monarchy since 1996

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- Maoist rebels have launched a series of fresh attacks on police posts in west Nepal, killing dozens of people, including six civilians and many more police.

Nepalese Internal Security Minister Devendra Raj Kandel, told CNN that 35 policemen were killed in a rebel raid on an Armed Police Force garrison in the village of Sadbaria in western Nepal.

In the wake of the carnage, other news agencies were reporting death tolls ranging between 34 and 84.

Kandel said about 115 APF policemen were stationed at the garrison, located in the district of Dang, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of Kathmandu, the capital.

EXTRA INFORMATION Nepal's Royal Killings

In a simultaneous raid on another police post, the rebels, labeled as terrorists by the government, shot to death 13 policemen in Lamahi village in the same district, the minister said, adding that about 80 policemen were stationed at the post at the time of the attack.

In another attack near Lamahi, rebels set fire to a passenger bus traveling from Kathmandu to the Doti district in a remote area of western Nepal. Six passengers, all civilians, were trapped in the bus and burned to death, Kandel said.

The Himalayan kingdom has been racked with violence since the Maoist rebels, labeled as terrorists by the government, surfaced in 1996 with their guerrilla campaign aimed at toppling the monarchy in favour of a communist republic.

The latest attacks come as human rights activists prepare to bring the government and the rebels to the negotiating table in a bid to renew peace talks that broke down last November, triggering a state of emergency in Nepal.

The attack is the biggest since 32 people were killed within a 24-hour period when security forces and rebels clashed in various districts across Nepal last month.

The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported Friday that the government is sending unidentified representatives with the activists to meet rebel delegates in the western border town of Bhairahawa to explore peace talks this weekend.

Despite some success against the insurgents in urban areas, only two months ago the state of emergency was extended in the face of continued violent clashes between security forces and the Maoist guerrillas. The Nepalese parliament ratified an emergency decree allowing the government to continue to use the army to fight the rebels.

Political crisis

The ongoing unrest set off a political crisis in Nepal in February, with opposition parties calling for the country's Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, to quit.

But the government urged a stop to what it called political bickering and infighting, and called for its people to "stand together to fight terrorism."

More than 2,500 people have died since the Maoists surfaced in 1996 with their "people's war" campaign. They are aiming to overthrow Nepal's constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy in favor of a communist republic.

The rebellion has rocked Nepal's impoverished economy, hit development projects, hurt business confidence and affected tourism, the country's third largest foreign exchange earner after exports and foreign aid.

-- Suman Pradhan contributed to this story