Nepalese Border Fighting Leaves 21 Dead

Security forces fought rebels in a fierce, all-night gun battle near India’s border with Nepal, leaving 21 dead in the first coordinated attack involving both Indian and Nepalese communist militants, police said.

The gun battle was triggered when about 400 suspected Maoist rebels attacked a police station and two state-run banks in Bihar state’s Madhuban village Thursday, Director-General of Police Ashish Ranjan Sinha said.

Citing officers’ accounts and local intelligence, he said almost 100 Nepalese Maoists, who are fighting to topple their nation’s constitutional monarchy, were involved in the attack.