Gun battles between Maoist rebels and the Royal Nepalese Army left more than 16 people dead, news reports said Saturday. Maoist guerrillas on Friday ambushed an army team clearing a highway, setting off a gunfight that left four soldiers and 12 rebels dead, The Kathmandu Post reported. The report also quoted army officials as saying several rebels were killed in a separate gunfight, but didn't give details. Elsewhere in Nepal, about 700 rebels raided and destroyed a relay tower of state-run Nepal Television in the town of Kohalpur, west of Katmandu, The Himalayan Times said, quoting the NTV's regional station head Man Bahadur Ghale.
