200 Maoist Guerrillas Slain, Army Says

NEPAL

Army helicopters killed more than 200 rebels in airstrikes in western Nepal, a government spokesman said, amid the deadliest fighting since the communist insurgency began six years ago.

Officials say security forces have killed more than 560 rebels since Thursday. That claim could not be confirmed because of lack of access to the battle zones in remote districts of Rolpa and Pyuthanc, about 150 miles west of Katmandu.

"It seems like a massacre has taken place. Whether of Maoists or civilians, it's impossible to say," said the Amnesty International's Nepal researcher, Ingrid Massage.