Nepal to press ahead with elections despite Maoist attacks

The army said Sunday it killed over 500 rebels in the single bloodiest clash since the Maoists launched their revolt in 1996 to topple the monarchy and set up a communist republic in the Himalayan nation.

It was impossible to verify independently the number of dead due to the area's remoteness.

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"Despite the Maoist attacks on Beni Bazar, the government will go ahead with plans for the general elections," Home Minister Kamal Thapa told reporters after inspecting the battleground in rebel-dominated west Nepal.

The Maoist leader, known as Prachanda or the "fierce one," has accused the government of being "hell-bent on continuing military totalitarianism in the name of conducting the elections."

The Maoists have vowed to continue their attacks until a "political solution" is reached to the revolt that has undermined the economy of the already impoverished nation by scaring away tourists and investment.

Thapa did not say when the polls would be held. Earlier, the government had said they would take place around November.

If the army's statement that over 500 rebels died in the most recent fighting is true, it would mark a big setback for the Maoists, who boasted last weekend that a "decisive victory over the autocratic regime looms large on the horizon."

But newspaper editorials said Tuesday it was far from clear the army had scored a decisive win over the rebels.

"The Maoists created havoc in the town," said the largest-selling English daily The Kathmandu Post.

The Maoists said on Monday only 49 of their fighters died in the battle in which authorities said around 2,500 rebels stormed a state bank, a jail and government buildings in Beni Bazar.

Thapa said government forces had so far recovered the bodies of 210 rebels. He said 28 security men and four civilians died in the clash.

Thapa also said 35 soldiers and security guards were missing. The Maoists said Monday, however, they held 92 hostages.