Kathmandu  - The UN Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Friday called on the Nepalese government to investigate 170 cases of forced disappearances in a single district in the western part of the country during the communist insurgency.

OHCHR in a report said it had documented 170 cases of disappearances in Bardiya district, about 450 kilometres west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.

Richard Bennett, representative of the OHCHR in Nepal said 156 of the 170 disappearances were blamed on the Nepalese security forces, between December 2001 and January 2003.

In a press release, The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for an independent and credible commission to investigate the forced disappearances.

"Ensuring justice and redress in these cases would not only provide some relief to the victims, it would also constitute an important step forward in Nepal's peace process," Pillay said.

"It would be a significant breakthrough in the government's pledge to end impunity, and its effort to build a new Nepal based on rule of law and respect for human rights."

The Maoists were blamed for the remaining disappearances and OHCHR said the former rebels had admitted to killing 12 of the 14 people they abducted from the district during the insurgency.

OHCHR however said the fate of most of those who disappeared at the hands of state authorities remains officially unknown.

But the UN office cites "credible witness testimony" suggesting that a number of detainees were killed while in custody, or shortly after being removed by members of the security forces.

Bardiya was one of the Maoist strongholds during the decade-long communist insurgency with frequent clashes between the security forces and the Maoists.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, nearly a thousand people remain missing across the country after security forces arrests or rebels abduction.

The Maoist former rebels are now leading the government after a strong showing during the constituent assembly elections in April this year.

Nearly 14,000 people died in the communist insurgency which formally ended after the government and the Maoists signed a peace deal in November 2006. (dpa)