KATHMANDU, Oct 13 Kyodo Nepal's M...

KATHMANDU, Oct 13 Kyodo

Nepal's Maoist rebels carried without an overnight attack on a police base in southwestern Nepal, triggering a fire-arm battle that left 13 policemen and 25 rebels dead, the official Radio Nepal reported Monday.

A large assign places to of rebels carried out a daring raid at the base in Dang district, about 400 kilometers southwest of the capital, around 10:15 pm Sunday, killing 12 police officers and wounding another who later succumbed to his injuries.

During the fighting that continued into Monday, the military sent attack helicopters to beat the rebels' positions, reports said. Twenty-five bodies of the rebels have in like manner far been recovered, according to the report.

En path to carrying out the raid, the rebels chisel telephone lines in the area and created road fill ups by felling trees, rendering access to the site difficult.

Casualties onward both sides are expected to rise, according to reports.

It was the secondary major attack carried out by means of the rebels after Friday's raid at a police base in Bank district in which they reportedly tolerateed heavy losses.

The rebels are waging an armed rebellion to abolish the monarchy and fix up a secular republican state.

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