Maoist killings fall during Nepali truce

"From the Maoist side, the number of killings has fallen, most of the killings have been on the part of the state," said Kundan Aryal, general secretary of the Informal Service Centre (INSEC) citing a report.

"Though the number of killings from the Maoists has gone down, there has been a rise in the incidents of abduction," the report said.

From September to early December, state security services reportedly killed 62 alleged Maoists while the rebels were responsible for 13 deaths and nearly 8,800 abductions, according to the INSEC report.

That compares to 483 people killed by both sides from June to August, the report said.

The rebels, fighting to install a communist republic in Nepal, announced a three-month unilateral ceasefire in September and extended it by a month in December.

Last month, the Maoists and leading political parties announced an agreement to pressure King Gyanendra, who seized power in February, to restore democracy, which included the rebels laying down their arms.

The government has dismissed the ceasefire.

More than 12,000 civilians, Maoists and security personnel have died in Nepal since the rebels began their "people's war" in 1996.

Some 2,000 students took to the streets of Kathmandu Sunday to protest against the king as well as the massacre this month of 11 people by a soldier.

The demonstrations were called by an alliance of eight student unions.

"Our protest is against the massacre of 11 people at Nagarkot (on the outskirts of Kathmandu) and autocracy in Nepal," said the general secretary of the Nepal Students Union, Badri Pandey.

"We are also protesting against the undemocratic moves of the king," he added.