KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The Nepali army said on Friday faulty Indian assault rifles were partly responsible for its heavy death toll in a gun battle with Maoist rebels as troops hunted for 75 soldiers still missing after the fighting. Forty-three soldiers and a civilian were killed when hundreds of rebels attacked an army base in the remote Kalikot district, 600 km (375 miles) from the capital, Kathmandu, late on Sunday. The Maoists, fighting to topple Nepal's monarchy and establish communist rule, say they captured 52 soldiers after the raid, a claim rejected by the army. Army spokesman Brigadier-General Dipak Gurung said the Indian-manufactured INSAS rifles malfunctioned during the fighting which continued for about 10 hours. "Soldiers complained that the INSAS rifles did not function properly during the fighting which lasted for a long time," Gurung told a news conference when asked why the army death toll was high. "May be the weapons we were using were not designed for a long fight. They malfunctioned," he said. There were also fewer troops at the base as it was a road construction project and not a fighting base, he added. The army casualties were the heaviest since Maoist violence escalated after King Gyanendra seized direct power in February by sacking the multiparty government. "There were stoppages during the firing ... the rifles got hot and soldiers had to wait for them to cool," another officer told Reuters. India is a key military supplier to the poorly equipped Nepali army. But New Delhi suspended arms supplies six months ago after the king's power grab to press the monarch to restore multi-party democracy and civil liberties. Nepali troops have complained in the past about technical problems with the Indian designed and built INSAS or Indian Small Arms System assault rifle. Indian troops using the rifle are also known to have faced difficulties using it, Indian defence experts say. Indian defence officials declined to react to the Nepali comments. The nine-year Maoist revolt has scared away investors in the desperately cash-strapped nation and wrecked the economy that is heavily dependent on international aid and tourism. More than 12,500 people have died in the conflict and tens of thousands of people have fled their homes to towns or to neighbouring India to escape the conflict. =============================================== http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-08-12T141007Z_01_WRI250944_RTRUKOC_0_UK-NEPAL-REBELS.xml