April 11, 2006: The 65 month war in Nepal, between Maoist (communist) rebels and the government, has left nearly 11,000 Nepalese dead so far. That's out of a population of some 25 million. Up until late 2001, the Maoists rebels had been handled as a police matter. After that, the army got involved, and casualties began to rise. A ceasefire was negotiated in 2003, but broke down, and casualties surged once more. A third of casualties occurred between Late 2001 and the Summer of 2003. So far, 74 percent of the dead have been Maoists, 11 percent civilians and the rest soldiers and police. In addition to 8,029 dead, another 4,000 Maoists have surrendered or been captured. Thus the Maoists have lost about twelve dead or captured for every dead soldier or policeman.
The biggest losses, however, have not been physical. The Maoists recruit most of their fighters by kidnapping teenagers and brainwashing them into joining. Once in, you can't get out. The Maoists are running into increasing resistance, to their recruiting practices, from the population. The primary Maoist tactic is terror, mainly against government officials and teachers. The Maoists want the government officials to either collaborate or leave their posts. Same with the teachers, who the Maoists use to help indoctrinate the students. Many students don't need any help accepting the Maoists radical philosophy, but most do. The Maoists want to right injustices by establishing a communist dictatorship. The Maoists declared a unilateral ceasefire last December, but about a thousand people have died since then anyway.
