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More than 500 rebels, fighting to topple the constitutional monarchy, stormed the army camp at Damachour, 400 km (250 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, late on Wednesday, officials said. The battle raged until Thursday evening, they added.
"At least 50 rebels have been confirmed dead. We're confident there are more rebel casualties," an army official said.
There has been no independent confirmation of the toll. The guerrillas usually do not comment on casualties.
Nepali security forces on Friday moved reinforcements to help search for the guerrillas in the jungles around the battleground.
The rebels emerged from the jungles on Wednesday to launch their latest major assault in an increasingly violent six-year fight to install a communist regime in the poor nation wedged between India and China.
Rudra Nath Basyal, chief bureaucrat of Sallyan district where the latest fighting took place, said at least four soldiers died in the fighting in a remote area without roads and telecommunication links.
In May, soldiers raided a guerrilla training camp in Rukum district near the scene of Wednesday night's battle in which officials said over 200 rebels were killed.
The violence has deepened the woes of Nepal's aid-dependent economy, hitting tourism and business confidence in the scenic nation of 23 million people.
Reuters
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