Katmandu, Nepal ? Hundreds of government troops took control Friday of an area where rebels armed with bombs and guns attacked four towns in western Nepal, killing 48 policemen and six civilians, the government said. Security officials on the ground however said the number of deaths was nearly double.

Gunbattles raged into Friday morning between rebels and the police following the attacks Thursday night on the federal interior security minister’s house, a police station, two banks and a bus in Dang district, 190 miles west of the capital, Katmandu.

“Reinforcement has been sent from both the capital and around in the area, who have launched a massive search,” said junior internal security minister, Devendra Raj Kadel, who said that 48 police officers had been confirmed dead.

A Nepalese security official patrolling the Nepal-India border told The Associated Press that at least 82 police officers and some 10 civilians had been killed in the overnight attack. More than 3,000 troopers have cordoned off the area, where authorities clamped a curfew. The border has been sealed to prevent any rebel from crossing over to India, the officer said on condition of anonymity.

It was one of the bloodiest attacks in the rebels’ 6-year-old campaign to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy with a communist state. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

“People in the area are terrified with most of the people refusing to leave their homes. There are bodies everywhere. Though additional forces have reached the area, people are not feeling secure,” said Suraj Khatri Chetri, a journalist in the area, contacted by telephone.

The rebels, who belong to a banned group calling itself the Nepal Communist Party, usually don’t issue statements after attacks and do not operate offices in the country.

Rights group Amnesty International has accused both the security forces and the insurgents of killing civilians and committing other atrocities.