This brings the total rebel casualties to more than 100 in the past three days.

Officials say two soldiers have also died while some others have been wounded in the fighting.

Many soldiers were killed in recent rebel attacks

There has been no comment from the rebels.

A defence ministry spokesman said 55 rebels had been killed in the remote western hill district, Rukum, on Sunday.

Other rebels died in the nearby Rolpa and five other districts across the country.

In another incident, 15 rebels were killed in the western district of Banke when the bombs they had been carrying accidentally went off.

Spurt in violence

Independent confirmation of the official accounts is difficult to obtain due to communication problems in remote hill areas where a security offensive has been underway.

Military operations were launched last year to crush the Maoist insurgency in which more than 4,000 people have died.

The offensive was intensified following recent rebel attacks on army barracks and police stations in which more than 100 security personnel were killed.

The Maoists began their armed campaign six years ago.

They have been fighting to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy with a communist republic.