Nepali troops shot dead 22 leftist rebels in gun battles across the west of the Himalayan country yesterday, as violence spiraled a day after 20 soldiers were killed by the guerrillas.

The surge in fighting between the rebels and government troops came less than a month before a January 13 government deadline for the rebels to join peace talks.

Analysts said the rebel attacks were aimed to pressure the government into talks on the rebels' terms.

Seventeen guerrillas were killed in a battle in Naumule village in the hilly Dailekh district, a rebel stronghold 600 kilometers west of the capital, Kathmandu, Colonel Naina Raj Dahal said.

"There were hundreds of rebels holed up in trenches and bunkers in the compound of the village school," Dahal said. "They used mortars, machineguns and automatic rifles to attack an army search party of about 150 soldiers."

The fighting began on Wednesday afternoon and flared up again Thursday.

"We knew they were hiding there. We were tactically prepared for the attack. Besides, our troops are trained and that is why we have no casualties," the colonel said.

It is difficult to confirm independently casualty figures in Nepal and analysts say both the army and the rebels routinely exaggerate the toll of opponents and underplay their own losses.

Earlier Thursday, at least five rebels were shot dead by soldiers in Lamjung district, about 150 kilometers west of Kathmandu, after the rebels stormed a security post at a telecommunications tower.

The violence came as the government sent helicopters and reinforcements to hunt for rebels in Arghakhanchi district, 350 kilometers west of Kathmandu, where 20 soldiers were killed in an ambush on Wednesday.

(China Daily December 17, 2004)