Meanwhile the country's home minister said the government would look for a political consensus on reimposing a state of emergency following the two huge guerrilla offensives over the weekend.

The attacks killed 114 policemen and soldiers, while the defence ministry said 172 rebels had died.

Deuba Tuesday visited the Arghakanchi district, where thousands of guerrillas Sunday bombed and set fire to a police and army post as well as government offices and a bank in the town of Sandhikharka, 215 kilometres (134 miles) southwest of Kathmandu.

The seven-hour battle left 65 policemen and soldiers dead and 32 injured, and destroyed many government buildings, state-run radio said.

The defence ministry said Tuesday that the bodies of 163 rebels who died during the fighting and had been buried by their colleagues were found nearby.

"We will wipe out terrorism from Nepal. We will defeat terrorism. We will also make the security forces more efficient and effective by providing them with better arms and equipment," Deuba told reporters during the visit.

Just 24 hours before the Sandhikharka attack 49 policemen were lined up and shot dead late Saturday, when 1,000 rebels raided a police post at Bhimad in the eastern Sindhuli district, 85 kilometres (53 miles) east of Kathmandu. Ten more were injured.

The bodies of nine guerrillas were recovered later, the defence ministry said, adding many more could have been taken away by other rebels.

Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka said the government would redouble its efforts to beat the insurgency.

"The government's new policy will be more aggressive. We will break their communication systems and destroy their training centres. A national consensus will be sought after calling an all-party meeting about reimposing emergency rule in the country," he told state-run radio.

The government was already considering reimposing the emergency, which lapsed on August 28, after a series of bomb attacks in recent days in Kathmandu which have left one dead and several injured.

It was first introduced 10 months ago after the guerrillas broke a four-month ceasefire with the government and pulled out of peace talks.

Sources said the cabinet would meet late Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss imposing emergency rule.

Deuba allowed the emergency to lapse late last month because elections are due to be held on November 13. It was felt that polls would be freer and fairer without the emergency restrictions.

The measures gave local authorities and security forces wide powers to detain and interrogate suspected rebels and impose curfews.

But opposition and rights groups said they curtailed human rights and were not effective in the fight against the guerrillas, who have been fighting since 1996 for a communist republic. The insurgency has already claimed more than 4,700 lives.

Hundreds of security reinforcements were rushed to Arghakanchi to hunt down the rebels involved in the attacks and reports had said fighting between the two sides was continuing. But state radio said the situation was under control on Tuesday.

It also said that 60 security personnel and the acting chief district officer of Arghakhanchi district, who went missing after the attack, were safe.

The rebels also looted cash and jewellery worth 90 million rupees (1.15 million dollars) from a bank during Sunday's attack, the radio said.

On Monday Deuba had met with his top defence advisers to decide on a new strategy to combat the intensifying violence.

"The premier has met chiefs of the security forces in Kathmandu on Monday and asked them to be more vigil and adopt more effective strategies to counter the rebels," the radio said.

"The premier also expressed grief over the loss of so many security personnel and wished for the speedy recovery of those injured in the incident on Sunday," it added.

ss/an/th Nampa-AFP WEB story ENDS (NAMPA 101514)

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