Kathmandu: Hours after the government announced its willingness to hold peace talks, heavily armed Maoist rebels in Nepal struck in a big way killing 56 security personnel in two separate attacks that also left 24 rebels dead overnight.

Hundreds of rebels, fighting to topple the monarchy in the Himalayan kingdom, invaded the district headquarters in Khalanga town of Jumla district, 560 km North West of Kathmandu, just before midnight killing 33 security personnel including three Army men, and losing 24 of their men, reports said.

The rebels, during the assault which lasted for several hours, also targeted Army barracks and a police office, where over 500 security personnel were deployed, Army sources said.

The communication links were broken soon after the attack and additional security forces sent along with a night vision helicopter to counter the rebels could not land due to fog and smokes emanating from the buildings set ablaze by the Maoists.

Radio Nepal quoting eyewitnesses said rebels were seen carrying away bodies of their comrades in bamboo baskets.

As the day broke, security forces launched both ground and air strikes to drive away the rebels from the district headquarters, Army sources said.

In another attack, the Maoists bombed a security post and fired indiscriminately at Takukgt area in the district of Gurkha, the ancestral house of King Gyanendra, killing 23 policemen and injuring over a dozen.

PTI