13 Nepal Army soldiers feared dead in forest fire

September 10th, 2009 KATHMANDU - General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung has formally assumed the post of new Nepal Chief of Army Staff (CoAS). President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, as the Supreme Commander of Nepal Army, offered Gurung the insignia and administered oath of office and secrecy at a special function at Shital Niwas here on Wednesday.

July 23rd, 2009 Current troop levels and deaths in AfghanistanCurrent troop levels and deaths since 2001 among leading members of the NATO-led force and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan: UNITED STATES — About 59,000 soldiers, at least 675 died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

July 16th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Some of them took up arms when they were as young as 12. Some did it because their parents were dead and some to avenge a dead relative.

May 23rd, 2009 KATHMANDU - As Nepal Saturday looked forward to an end to a political crisis that has gripped the nation for three weeks with the fall of the Maoist government, fresh violence erupted in Kathmandu Valley with an explosion in a church killing at least one person and injuring nearly a dozen. The blast occurred at the Assumption Church in Dhobighat in Lalipur district, run by the Nepal Catholic Society.

May 5th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Private television stations across Nepal Tuesday broadcast video footage of Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' telling his guerrilla commanders his party had successfully recruited over 23,000 soldiers after the 2006 truce and of his aim to control the army to grab absolute power. The video footage appeared a day after the Maoist government collapsed in a power struggle between the president and the prime minister over the government's decision to sack army chief Rukmangad Katuwal.

April 27th, 2009 KATHMANDU - While Nepali soldiers employed in the Gurkha regiments of the British Army are fuming over Britain's decision to offer full settlement rights to only about one-ninth of the 36,000 veterans, those serving in the Indian Army are rejoicing at the Indian government's decision to hike their pension funds to Rs.10 billion (over $200 million). After recommendations by the Indian Pay Commission, the Indian government has earmarked Rs.10 billion in 2009 to pay pensions to Nepali soldiers who had served in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, up from the previous Rs.7 billion.

April 24th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Warily watching the dogged duel between its chief and the ruling Maoist party and grieving for the death of 13 soldiers in a forest fire, Nepal's beleaguered army was dragged into fresh controversy Friday by a leading media house whose two dailies accused it of planning a coup. In a sensational front-page report Friday, two of Nepal's leading dailies claimed to have been informed by unnamed 'senior army officers' that the Nepal Army, once the arch enemy of the Maoists, had planned a 'soft coup' to prevent the former guerrillas from establishing their control over the state forces.

April 22nd, 2009 KATHMANDU - As Nepal's first Maoist government faces the possibility of collapse following its determination to fire the chief of the army, a media report Wednesday said that the ongoing Indian elections could be a reason for the high drama. '(Prime Minister) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda feels that after the elections in India, there is a danger of (the new Indian government) intensifying efforts to topple the government in Nepal,' the Ghatana R Bichar weekly said.

April 19th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Nepali Prime Minister Prachanda has told British Under Secretary of State for Defense and Minister for Veterans Kevan Jones that the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) may be asked to stop work after the integration of the army and the rehabilitation of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) combatants by July. Jones, in his departure statement at the end of his five-day visit to Nepal, said that the people of Nepal could be assured of Britain's steadfast support, both for peace building and for development.

April 19th, 2009 PATIALA - A major fire broke out in the forest area of Bhadson in this Punjab district Sunday, spreading over a two km area, police said. 'Six fire brigade vans were pressed into service to control the blaze that was spreading very rapidly due to strong winds.

April 7th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two soldiers and two guerrillas were killed in a three-day long gunfight that ended Tuesday in a Kashmir forest area, police said. The army and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police launched an operation in Maidanpora forest, around 110 km from here, in the frontier Kupwara district Sunday.

April 6th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Two Indian Army soldiers were killed in a gunfight with guerrillas in a forest area in Kashmir Monday, the state police said. The army and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police launched a search operation in Maidanpora forest, around 120 km from here, in the frontier Kupwara district Saturday.

March 27th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood urged cooperation from the Nepal Government for maintaining security along the border in view of the upcoming general elections in India. Sood urged this during the meeting with Prime Minister Prachanda here on Thursday.

January 1st, 2009 JAMMU - Four militants were killed in a gunbattle with soldiers in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir Friday, an army official said. 'The army has shot dead four militants in the operation in Pati Tar's mountainous forest area in Mendhar.

December 31st, 2008 THIMPHU - Bhutan has sounded a massive security alert after the killing of four forest rangers in a powerful landmine explosion by Nepal-based Maoist guerrillas, officials here said Thursday. A Royal Bhutan Police spokesman said the explosion took place near Singye village in the southern Bhutan district of Sarpang late Tuesday.