Aswathe of central Nepal from Gorkha to Myagdi has seen a dramatic decrease in Maoist activities in the past four months, and the Royal Nepal Army says this is a direct result of successful undercover work and its infiltration of Maoist ranks.

"They have lost many district-level leaders, their supply lines have been severed, their weapons caches have been captured and they are running out of food," one military officer told us. On a recent trip through Gorkha, Tanahu, Parbat, Baglung and Myagdi, local villagers confirmed that Maoist activities had gone down in the past few months, but that it was too early to say the rebels have been vanquished. Operations in these districts are under command of Brigadier General Prakash Basnet who heads the army Third Brigade based in Pokhara.

A year ago, the sight of armed guerrillas walking in broad daylight was common sight along the Gorkha-Abukhaireni road, and even in the bazar. The Maoist student front had extorted over Rs 4 million in "donations", and 13 schools had been forced to close. Maoists regularly ambushed security patrols. Eight police posts in the district had been abandoned, and police presence was restricted to the district headquarters.

Today, security forces are being deployed again outside district headquarters, and the army says intelligence breakthroughs have undermined Maoist strength and disrupted supply lines for food and explosives. The security forces have already set up 18 outposts-the largest security presence in any district. Schools have started to reopen. An officer in Gorkha told us: "In the beginning we knew our goals, but didn't know where to start . defecting Maoists themselves showed us the way."

Gorkha has important symbolic value for both sides. It is the seat of the Shah dynasty as well as the home district of Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai who is the head of the rebels' central command. Army sources say the district had 178 hardcore guerrillas, 80 people's militia and about 400 active supporters. This number has been reduced by half, they say-some have been killed in encounters, others captured, and the rest have surrendered.

Documents captured in raids were shown to us, and seem to indicate a falling out among the comrades themselves. There appear to have been internal party purges against suspected informants, and disciplinary action taken against district leaders accused of using looted jewellery and cash for personal use. A letter written by Kaushilya Gurung (Comrade Shilpa) who was recently killed in an encounter seems to show a serious split among Maoist between those who support Baburam and those who don't.

In emailed and faxed statements, Maoist leaders strongly deny the differences, and say it is "reactionary disinformation". Most videos and photographs of Maoists that the army has captured so far have come from these districts. The army has used them for propaganda purposes, broadcasting them over Nepal Television and releasing them to the press.

Aside from inadequate logistics and equipment, the army's main gripe is that the civilian administration has not been taking advantage of its successful pacification campaign to move in with development. The military is itself now engaged in a "hearts-and-minds" drive under the command of Colonel Dipak Prasad Bharati. His Barda Bahadur Battalion has already spent Rs 1.3 million rupees to repair about 30 schools, organise health clinics, and even air-lift the seriously sick locals to hospital in Kathmandu.

A 50 m Bailey bridge has been built under the Integrated Security and Development Program (ISDP) to link Tanahu and Gorkha districts, although this was washed away by floods on the Marsyangdi last week. The army is also building four important feeder roads near Gorkha.

Despite successes in Palpa, Gorkha, Baglung and in the Pokhara area, the Maoists are still active in Lamjung where they haven't stopped collecting donations from shops around Sundarbazar. In Tanahu, Maoist extortion and threats have diminished after the army moved in, which was enough to sap the life of what little of the rebel presence there was. Bandipur's Japanese-built Notre Dame school re-opened this week and is being run by the community.

"It is now possible to return to villages provided there is a security presence," says DDC member Satish Chandra Neupane, who was himself abducted by Maoists three years ago. Schools have begun reopening in and around Damauli, and the district administration is distributing voter ID cards for the November elections.

The Chandika Armed Police Force stationed in Parbat district is in charge of security in the Dhaulagiri Zone, although the army has also set up a garrison there after the emergency. Maoists attacked the Modi Khola hydroelectric plant in April, and the rebels are said to be active in one of its two election constituencies made up of 28 VDCs. "The soldiers use the main roads and the Maoists control the shortcuts," one villager told us.

Other villagers told us the Maoists are losing support, and that one of the reasons is their desecration of temples and forced beef-eating. Last year they killed a bull near the village school in Barjanga in Myagdi, and forced villagers to eat the meat. It is clear from speaking to locals that the support there is for the Maoists is born largely out of fear.

In Baglung, Maoists have destroyed all but one of the 59 VDC's buildings. As in Myagdi, there are no phone connections left anywhere, except in the district headquarters. Besides telecom towers, Maoists have also destroyed four health posts and a government food godown with 50 quintals of rice. The rebels have not disrupted construction work on the Baglung-Bhurtibang (105km) road but they have burnt down four community buildings built with ADB support.

The security forces have imposed quantitative restrictions on food supplies to 16 VDCs in the district's western regions, where two VDCs are said to be under strong Maoist influence. Each family is allowed to take in only 35kg of rice each week, but there are reports that the Maoists are taking away even that. The western regions of Baglung are facing a serious food shortage.

Local Rastriya Jana Morcha leader Amar Bahadur Thapa says his party has fundamental differences with the Maoists. "We used to be together, but having seen their destructive activities up close, we have no hesitation in calling them terrorists," he tells us. Local leaders of parliamentary parties had organised resistance to Maoists in various Baglung villages, but the rebels responded with death threats and forced them all to move to the district headquarters. They've been there since October last year.

Baglung CDO Prem Narayan Sharma says he has proof that the Maoists are forcing members of other parties into their cause, but adds: "We are in a position to take rapid action in any part of the district the moment we get information of Maoist activity."

In Myagdi, the Maoist hardcore strength is said to be only about 50. But the rebels use threats, intimidation and arson attacks to spread panic and magnify their presence. They have burnt down all but one of the 39 VDC buildings. Schools have begun reopening, but last month the Maoists attacked a private school and the small hydro plant at Tatopani. All this has affected tourism, even though the northern districts of Mustang and Manang are free of Maoist activity.

The army's Kali Prasad Battalion (engineering) has begun work on the Galeswor-Mustang-Jomsom and the Maldhunga-Beni-Darbang roads. Says one Nepali Congress worker: "The army's presence has made life easier, but we don't know what will happen during the elections and after that."