A Nepali army general and three other persons have been killed by a landmine explosion in western Nepal.
A brief defense ministry statement said Brigadier General Sagar Bahadur Pandey was heading to his base Saturday when his jeep ran over the landmine near a town Bhaise about 160 kilometers west of the capital, Kathmandu.
The French News Agency, quoting a local official, said the dead included General Pandeiy's wife and two soldiers. Twelve other soldiers riding in a vehicle behind the general's car were injured by the blast. The wounded soldiers were flown to the capital for treatment.
General Pandey, the son of a senior Nepali diplomat, was the highest ranking officer killed since Nepali rebels withdrew from peace talks in August. The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy.
In a separate incident Saturday, three Nepali policemen were killed by gunmen riding on motorcycles in a market place in southern Nepal.