Kathmandu: In a major strike, Maoists in Nepal today (Aug 24, 2004) ambushed an army vehicle by triggering a landmine blast killing five soldiers and wounding six others on a highway linking Kathmandu, which the rebels have isolated for a week.

The rebels attacked the army patrol team that was clearing the Araniko highway, which links the capital to Tibet and was blocked by Maoists in Sukuti area, 50 km east of Kathmandu, Defence officials said.

Security forces recovered a body from the spot, which they suspect to be of a rebel and believed that at least 15 Maoists were injured in the retaliatory action, they said.

The encounter continued for some time but the rebels escaped.

"There might have been some causalities on the Maoist side also but we couldn't ascertain their number as they were carried away by their comrades," an army official said.

The Army conducted aerial search to flush out the Maoists involved in the ambush.

Arankio highway, one of the three routes connecting Kathmandu with other districts, was least affected by the Maoists' economic blockade of Kathmandu since Wednesday.

The rebels also exploded a pressure cooker bomb at the district agriculture development office building at Dhumbarahi in the outskirt of Kathmandu this afternoon injuring one official, police said.

Security forces today defused a bomb planted by suspected Maoists in a Government building at Babarmahal in the capital.

However, the transport movement on the other two highways, including Tribhuvan highway connecting Raxaul and Kathmandu, improved considerably. Many loaded trucks and passenger buses plied on the highway, Home Ministry sources said.

Two Maoists died while planting a bomb at a telecommunication tower in Birgunj of Parsa district bordering India yesterday, Home Ministry sources said. Two civilians including a child were also injured in the blast.

In another incident, rebels killed a school headmaster after dragging him out of the school at Inarwamal village of Bara district yesterday.

Following the incident angry students and villagers killed one of the Maoists involved in the incident, a media report said.