Nepal rebels kill policemen in jail raid

KATHMANDU - Maoist rebels stormed a jail in central Nepal, killed two policemen and set free 28 inmates, including guerrillas, police said.

The rebels, fighting to replace the Himalayan kingdom's monarchy with a communist republic, also bombed half a dozen government offices during the raid in Charikot in Dolakha district, 150 km (90 miles) northeast of capital Kathmandu, a police officer told Reuters.

"They broke open the gate of the jail after killing the policemen and escaped with 28 inmates," he said on Sunday.

It was not clear if the rebels also suffered casualties during the midnight raid.

The incident comes two days after government troops killed at least 97 guerrillas and lost three soldiers while repulsing a rebel attack on an army base in western Nepal in the deadliest clash in the country for five months.

Violence has escalated since the Maoists called a 11-day general strike to protest against King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 move to dismiss the multi-party government and assume full powers.

The strike, due to end on Tuesday, has disrupted supplies and travel across the landlocked and impoverished kingdom, wedged between giant Asian neighbors India and China.

More than 300 people have died in a surge of violence since the king seized power.

Gyanendra, who also jailed politicians and suspended civil liberties under a state of emergency, has justified his decision saying it was required to crush the increasingly bloody revolt in which more than 11,000 people have died since 1996.

- REUTERS