Rukum has lost the most men and women to the people's war: 215 killed by police: 97 by Maoists. The database at the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), which records the headcount at the district level, put the toll for the mid-Western region at 1,132. The Maoists are strongest in a large swathe of the country's mid-West, where the insurgency began in February 1996.

INSEC's count shows that at least 126 people have been killed between January and July 2001. The Maoists killed 288, and the police 64. Insurgency-related deaths have occurred in all 14 mid-Western districts in the past six years, except Humla, the remotest district, also said to be the stronghold of a different communist faction. INSEC's hostage count shows that Maoists have abducted 130 policemen and 128 civilians. The official estimate for deaths since February 1996 is just over 1,800.