One dead, many injured in Nepal rebel attack

Hundreds of rebels blocked the only highway to the town before attacking bases and several Govt buildings.

One policeman was killed and several others were injured when communist rebels attacked security bases in a town in eastern Nepal, officials said on Monday.

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Hundreds of rebels mounted the attack on Illam overnight, blocking the only highway to the town before attacking the bases and bombing several government buildings, said the area's head administrative official Shyam Krishna Singh.

Singh said the rebels also attacked the town jail and that several inmates managed to escape.

Details were sketchy, but Singh said that at least one policeman was killed and 13 others were wounded in the attack in Illam, about 550 kilometres east of Kathmandu.

The rebels have escalated attacks since withdrawing from their unilateral cease-fire earlier this year because the government refused to match their truce.

The cease-fire lasted for four months. The rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have fought for a decade to establish a communist government in Nepal. The insurgency has claimed nearly 13,000 lives.