Heavily-armed Maoists torched and bombed a regional station of the state-run Nepal Television, causing damage worth over Rs 4 crore and disrupting the broadcast indefinitely even as the security forces gunned down 10 rebels and lost four of their own men in a clash in the west of the kingdom.

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The regional station of Nepal Television at Kohalpur in Banke district of mid-western Nepal was torched and bombed by hundreds of Maoists on Friday, NTV sources said.

The regional broadcast of the NTV has been disrupted indefinitely after the explosion which caused damage worth
over Rs 4 crore.

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The Maoists also looted seven cameras and several other equipment from the station. However, no one was injured
in the incident, the sources said.

In another incident, Nepalese security forces shot dead 10 rebels and lost four of their own men in Badepur area on the East-West Highway in Dhangadhi district on Friday, media reports said.

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The fighting broke out after the rebels opened fire at security personnel, who were clearing barricades placed by the Maoists on the highway.

The security forces recovered a sub-machine gun and a pistol from the rebels in Patharia area during another search operation.