Army Copters Attack Suspected Rebel Camp

NEPAL

Army helicopters pounded forested slopes in western Nepal, pressing an attack on a suspected rebel training camp as the prime minister prepared to meet with President Bush to discuss military aid.

Government officials say at least 560 Maoist guerrillas have been killed in the biggest military operation against the rebels since they launched an insurgency to overthrow the Himalayan kingdom's constitutional monarchy in 1996.

The government's claims about the operation and the casualty figures could not be independently verified. Neither journalists nor Nepal's small human rights groups have access to the battle zone.