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KATHMANDU, Feb 7 (AFP): Nepal's Maoist rebels killed at least seven security force personnel in new clashes, the army said Tuesday on the eve of local polls called by King Gyanendra as part of a pledge to restore democracy.
One guerrilla also died in the violence, the army said, amid tight security as a nationwide general strike called by the Maoists entered its third day.
The municipal elections are the first to be held in seven years in the impoverished Himalayan nation which has been wracked by political turmoil.
The Maoists, fighting for the past decade to overthrow the monarchy, have stepped up violence in a bid to derail the polls that the rebels and opposition parties say are a sham aimed at perpetuating Gyanendra's control of the tiny nation of 26 million people.
"Seven security personnel were killed in two separate overnight attacks in two different districts," an army headquarters official told AFP.
Three soldiers and two policemen died when rebels stormed the district headquarters town of Gaighat, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Kathmandu late Monday. The body of a guerrilla was also found.
A soldier and a policeman were killed during a rebel attack in Panauti 30 kilometers (18 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, he added.
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