At least 103 people, most of them Maoist rebels, were killed in fighting with security forces after insurgents stormed security posts in west Nepal and the search for more dead was continuing.
"Fifty-five bodies of the rebels have been recovered in Jumla," the army official said. At least 24 soldiers and policemen also died when about 3,000 insurgents armed with automatic weapons stormed Jumla town, 600 km northwest of Kathmandu overnight, he said.
In another attack, 24 policemen were killed when the rebels raided a police post overnight in Gorkha district, 150 km west of Kathmandu.
"The rebels might have suffered more casualties as the search for bodies is continuing in neighbouring areas," a government official said.
There was no comment from the rebel group. The raids followed a national strike earlier this week called by the rebels who have been waging a six-year fight to set up a communist republic in the impoverished Himalayan nation. They often attack security posts and government facilities at night.
AFP