Nepal said today it would immediately strike back against Maoist guerrillas who killed 133 people, mostly army and police, over the weekend.
"The government has instructed all security agencies to launch immediate offensive and defensive operations against the Maoists," Communications and Information Minister Mr Jayprakash Prasad Gupta told
Reuters
.
Mr Gupta said soldiers in the past two months mainly remained "defensive" and had concentrated on disarming the rebels. "The situation will now change," he said. "The military will work out a detailed strategy".
In one raid over the weekend, over 100 people were killed in Mangalsen town, some 375 miles west of Kathmandu, in the bloodiest single strike of the six-year insurgency to topple the monarchy.
Officials said soliders had encircled the area and were searching mountains for the rebels.
Prime Minister Mr Sher Bahadur Deuba was due today to seek parliamentary approval for the extension for another three months of a state of emergency, declared after Maoists killed more than 200 people in attacks in November.
King Gyanendra declared the state of emergency and ordered the army to be deployed against the rebels after they ended a ceasefire and attacked police and army posts across the country.