Security forces found the bodies a day after a gunbattle in Panena village in the Palpa district, which broke out when soldiers patrolling the area came under attack from Maoist rebels who surrounded them on a gorge.

Army helicopters reached the site two hours after the gunbattle began Tuesday and started bombing the rebel positions, forcing them to flee into the jungles.

The army was searching the jungles but the mountainous terrain was making it difficult to find the rebels.

Palpa, about 155 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu, and nearby Nawalparasi districts have been centre of rebel attacks since they pulled out of a cease-fire in January. Among those killed were 18 rebels, 10 army soldiers and a policeman.

Five suspected communist rebels were killed earlier Tuesday, apparently when they accidentally triggered a homemade bomb in Mangalsen, about 375 miles west of the capital.

Police official Bhupendra Timilsina said Wednesday the cause of the blast was being investigated in Mangalsen, where a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed a few weeks ago because of increased rebel violence.

The guerrillas have a strong presence in the area and control much of the remote portions of western Nepal.

Elsewhere, the Defence Ministry said two local rebel commanders identified as Bibash Kumar Bajhangi and Surya Bahadur Saun were killed in gunbattle Wednesday at Darchula, about 435 miles northeast of Katmandu.