 At least three dozen Maoists have been killed after clashes with soldiers in western Nepal, the army has said. The latest attack is the largest since rebels called a transport blockade to protest the king's power grab earlier in the month. "At least three dozen Maoists are feared to have been killed in fierce clashes with the security forces," said a statement on Friday from the army's western divisional headquarters in Kathmandu. "Between Thursday and Friday, the two sides were engaged in fierce clashes at five different areas in Kailali district," the statement said. In the latest clashes, 400 rebels attacked forces operating in the village of Hasulia, the army statement said. Three soldiers and a policeman were killed in a separate clash in Pathariya in western Nepal on Friday and an undisclosed number of injured soldiers were airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment, it added. |