Communist rebels kill eight in Nepal
Communist rebels ambushed a police patrol, killing at least eight officers and injuring 12 others in Nepal today.
Officials said several rebels were also killed in the fighting that followed near Kharekhola, 310 miles south-west of the capital, Kathmandu.
The rebels, however, said they lost only one fighter, a local guerrilla commander named Nirmal, and that two others were injured in the clash.
The police were caught in a trap while responding to a report that the rebels had blocked a road with felled trees.
The rebels detonated a land mine when the police truck arrived and then opened fire on the officers, police said.
Fighting between the two sides continued until reinforcements reached the area.
The rebels have been fighting since February 1996 to replace Himalayan kingdom’s monarchy with a communist state. The insurgency has claimed more than 10,000 lives.
