Pili captives are safe: INSEC KOL Report KATHMANDU, Aug 22 - The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldiers taken hostage by Maoist rebels after fierce clashes between security forces and the rebels at the Pili army base camp in Kalikot on the night of August 7 are safe and being treated humanely, Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), a rights watchdog, said Sunday. The online portal of the organiztion, inseconline, quoted a Surkhet-based journalist Ashok Kumar Singh as saying that 27 RNA men abducted by the rebels after the nightlong clashes have been kept in a village located in southeastern region of Pili and are safe. The soldiers in Maoist captivity have said they were treated as prisoners of wars. Of the 60 abducted, Singh has brought photos of 27 soldiers. ?Though they had been treated humanely, they were nervous thinking about their captivity,? said Singh. The abductees have expressed hope that they would be released immediately if journalists and human rights activists pressed for it. In a recently issued statement, Maoist chairman Prachanda assured of releasing the soldiers saying that all the captives were being treated humanely and would be freed at an appropriate time after necessary procedures. In the statement that came in response to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Ian Martin's call for humane treatment to the hostages, Prachanda also said his party was committed to provide cooperation to the envoy. At least 55 soldiers and 27 Maoists were killed in the clashes. The hostages who Singh met are: Anil Kunwar, Jit Bahadur Tamang (Nuwakot), Prem Bahadur Tamang (Nuwakot), Shyam Bastola (Gulmi), Ram Bahadur Tamang (Sindhupalchowk), Keshav Phuyal (Dolakha), Umar Kunwar (Kaski), Krishna Bahadur Tamang (Nuwakot), Shiva Karki (Dhading), Jiwan Tamang (Kathmandu), Ram Bahadur Tamang (Sindhupalchowk), Tanka Bahadur Ale Magar (Dolakha), Tej Narayan Shrestha (Kathmandu), Tirtha Bahadur Dhital (Gorkha), Jhilke Tamang (Lalitpur), Netra Ghale (Shyangja), Sarob Ranabhat (Tanahun), Tara Lama (Sindhupalchowk), Min Bahadur Chaudhari (Bardibas), Kailash Dangi (Dang) and Hariram Chaudhari (Address unidentified). The identity of four other captive soldiers is not known. (snn)