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http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/06/27/nepal.rebels.free.ap/index.htmlKATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Communist rebels have freed 90 high school students who were seized from their classrooms last week for indoctrination, officials said.
The students, who were kidnapped Wednesday, were released over the weekend and have returned to their homes in Paudiamrai village, about 300 km (190 miles) west of Kathmandu.
None had been harmed by the rebels and all were in good health, said Durga Pokhrel, the chief administrative officer of Gulmi district.
Other details were not immediately available.
Earlier, authorities said they were alarmed because the students had been missing for five days, which was unusual because the rebels typically hold such abductees only for two or three days.
Officials said the rebels have increasingly been abducting large groups of students in remote villages to teach them about their nine-year revolution, aimed at replacing the government with a communist regime.
The latest abduction was of about 90 ninth- and 10th-grade students from Nepal Rastriya High School, the military said.
The village, in a remote and mountainous part of Gumli district, is mostly controlled by the insurgents.
The district's police chief, Bikram Gurung, had said police were concerned but did not send any rescue mission to the area, considered a dangerous zone. There are no army or police bases nearby.
There have been increasing reports of abductions in the region, Pokhrel said.
On June 15, about 250 students were taken from a nearby village and sent back three days later.
The guerrillas have stepped up violence since King Gyanendra took absolute power in February promising to quell the insurgency.
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy and set up a communist state. The insurgency has left more than 11,500 people dead.
The students, who were kidnapped Wednesday, were released over the weekend and have returned to their homes in Paudiamrai village, about 300 km (190 miles) west of Kathmandu.
None had been harmed by the rebels and all were in good health, said Durga Pokhrel, the chief administrative officer of Gulmi district.
Other details were not immediately available.
Earlier, authorities said they were alarmed because the students had been missing for five days, which was unusual because the rebels typically hold such abductees only for two or three days.
Officials said the rebels have increasingly been abducting large groups of students in remote villages to teach them about their nine-year revolution, aimed at replacing the government with a communist regime.
The latest abduction was of about 90 ninth- and 10th-grade students from Nepal Rastriya High School, the military said.
The village, in a remote and mountainous part of Gumli district, is mostly controlled by the insurgents.
The district's police chief, Bikram Gurung, had said police were concerned but did not send any rescue mission to the area, considered a dangerous zone. There are no army or police bases nearby.
There have been increasing reports of abductions in the region, Pokhrel said.
On June 15, about 250 students were taken from a nearby village and sent back three days later.
The guerrillas have stepped up violence since King Gyanendra took absolute power in February promising to quell the insurgency.
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy and set up a communist state. The insurgency has left more than 11,500 people dead.