More than 90 Nepal rebels killed

Nepal's bloody rebellion has been going on for six years

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- At least 90 Maoist guerrillas have been killed in battles with security forces in western Nepal, the defence ministry said.

Two army soldiers also were killed and another was wounded in the overnight gunbattles with the rebels, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

At least 40 guerrillas were killed on Thursday night during a gun battle with Nepalese army forces in Lisne, Rolpa district, 200 miles west of the capital, Katmandu, the statement said.

The fighting in Lisne started when Maoists attacked a team of security forces patrolling the area.

In another incident, at least 50 guerrillas were gunned down by security forces in the village of Bhagal, on the border of Doti and Kailali districts, about 300 miles west of Katmandu, the ministry said.

IN-DEPTH Nepal's Maoist rebellion

More than 150 guerrillas have been killed in the last week, junior Interior Minister Devendra Raj Kandel said.

In November the government imposed a state of emergency and ordered the army to crush the guerrilla insurgency, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives in the Himalayan kingdom.

Rolpa is the stronghold of the guerrillas who have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy and impose communist rule. They draw their inspiration from Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung.

The fighting in Lisne started when Maoists attacked a team of security forces patrolling the area, Kandel said.

In the last few days the government has intensified attacks on the guerrillas, after the rebels called for a nationwide strike last week which did not get much public support.

During the five-day strike the government continued to impose tight security measures to deter possible rebel attacks.

The strike, which began last Tuesday, virtually crippled life in Nepal and led to an upsurge of violence.