“If the government downsizes the strength of national army from 95,000 to 46,000 we are also ready to cut down the number of 19,000 combatants to half,” he said. [break]
Bhattarai demanded that all 19,000 Maoists combatants verified by the UNMIN should be integrated into the national army, if the government does not downsize the Nepal Army.
Bhattarai said the national army was increased to 95,000 from the existing 46,000 after the start of the Maoist movement. “If the government can increase the number of national army as much as it likes, why can it not integrate 19,000 Maoist combatants?” he asked.
He also said that he was less optimistic that the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) would yield any positive result.
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