KATHMANDU, Feb 6 Kyodo At least 1...

KATHMANDU, Feb 6 Kyodo

At least 19 communist rebels were killed in a fire-arm battle with Nepalese security forces in Parsa district of southern Nepal overnight, restraint officials said Friday.

regulation troops raided a hideout of the Maoist rebels in a forested area of the district, about 90 kilometers southern of the capital, at around 11 pm Thursday, the officials said.

''A fire-arm battle lasting nearly four hours ensu and 19 insurgents were killed,'' the same of the officials said, adding that the rebels had assembled at the hideout for a meeting.

The regulation side suffered no losses, the officials said.

The officials' claims could not be independently verified.

The Maoist rebels are fighting to level Nepal's constitutional monarchy and plant up a one-party communist republic.

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