KATHMANDU, FEB 19At least 15 police officers were killed and 26 others injured when armedMaoist guerrillas attacked a police check post in Western Nepal earlySaturday morning, a Home Ministry official said here."A large number of armed Maoists attacked a police post manned by 40policemen and killed 15 of them and injured 25 others," he said.The attack took place at Gharti Gaon village in Rolpa district in WesternNepal, some 400 kms from Kathmandu.Describing the attack as one of the fiercest in the five-year history of theMaoist insurgency, he said eight of the injured policemen had beentransported to Kathmandu by helicopter while others were treated atNepalgunj and Pokhara.Those killed in the blast were specially trained police officers detailedfor counterinsurgency duties and were apparently sleeping when the blasttook place.The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN) has waged a violent campaignagainst the government for the past five years which has seen more than1,000 civilians being killed over the period. Some 31 districts in Nepalhave been affected with violence, Rolpa being one of the worst affected.The blast comes just five days after the General Secretary of the CPN, PuspaKamal Dahal alias Prachand, took the initiative for peace talks, providedcertain demands were met by Kathmandu."We are prepared to talk with the Government provided there are minimumconditions laid for it," he said in a recent statement. These included adisclosure of the fate of Maoist insurgents and their supporters who havedisappeared, the release of activists, and a halt to police atrocitiescommitted against them.This was the first time that Prahachand has taken the initiative for talkswith the Government.Meanwhile, the ruling Nepali Congress Party on Saturday launched acountry-wide anti-Maoist campaign to coincide with their 50th nationaldemocracy day."The anti-Maoist campaign was launched on Saturday after the two week tourof the Nepali Congress president and MP Girija Prasad Koirala in theMaoist-dominated districts in the country's far north-west and westregions," Nepali Congress publicity chief R C Pokharel said.Home Ministry spokesman G B Pandey said in four years of the Maoist people'swar, more than 1,176 people had been killed. Two-thirds were Maoists whileanother 192 policemen were also among the dead. To mark the day, 185political detainees and criminals, were released or had their sentencesreduced or commuted.
