'Six Maoists killed in Nepal pre-election violence'

Police shot dead at least six Maoist activists in western Nepal ahead of crucial polls in the impoverished Himalayan nation, officials said on Wednesday.

Police shot dead at least six Maoist activists in western Nepal ahead of crucial polls in the impoverished Himalayan nation, officials said on Wednesday.

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"Six Maoists were killed and five were injured in police firing after police intervened in clashes between cadres of the (main party) Nepali Congress and Maoist supporters," said senior local official Mohan Sapkota.

Nepal is due to go to the polls on Thursday to vote for a body that is supposed to abolish the monarchy and rewrite Nepal's constitution.

The polls mark the climax of a peace process that brought the Nepal's former rebel Maoists into mainstream politics and ended a decade-long war that left at least 13,000 dead and crippled the country's economy.