Seven people were killed in Nepal in fighting between security forces and Maoist rebels, officials said today.
Soldiers killed five rebels today in four separate clashes in west Nepal, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) rebels also killed an unarmed soldier and a retired soldier in east Nepal, a ministry spokesman said.
In November, Nepal declared a state of emergency and ordered its army to crush the Maoist rebels after after they broke a truce and made several attacks on security forces. Nepalese officials say the rebels are trying to topple the constitutional monarchy and elected government.
The state of emergency is still in place and Nepal's parliament was scheduled to debate and vote next week on the government's request to extend the emergency for another three months.
About 550 people have died in the conflict since November, taking the total number of deaths in the rebellion to more than 2,350 in six years.