Nepal army attacks Maoist gathering

The operation was carried out near a school where the rebels had gathered in Thokarpa village, 90km northeast of Kathmandu, an army officer said in the capital.

"Acting on a tip-off that the rebels were holding a gathering in the surroundings of Bagh Bhairav Higher Secondary School in the village, the troops launched an aerial attack at around 1 p.m. Monday," the officer said on condition of anonymity.

"We are still waiting for details as the ground troops have not yet reached the site," he said.

A local journalist, who asked not to be named, told AFP that at least four Maoists and a civilian were killed in the two-hour aerial attack.

The rebels are waging a decade-long insurgency in which more than 12,500 people have been killed.

Meanwhile, four missing Polish trekkers feared abducted by Maoist rebels in Nepal were found safe by police on Monday on a trail in the Mount Everest area, four days after they made an emergency call.

"I spoke to them personally over the phone today and they said they had a small argument with the rebels who had asked for money. The dispute was settled and the trekkers are safe," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

He said the four planned to continue their trek.

Marzena Staniszewska, Wojcich Mysiara, Konrad Kakolewski and Maria Los had called colleagues via satellite phone on March 23 and said they had been abducted by the rebels, according to Bharat Kumar Ghimire, general secretary of the Nepal Esperanto Association where two of the trekkers worked.