MANAC.UA. Feb 1: Rearmed Contra rebel clashes with government troops over the weekend left 16 people dead and several others wounded, military officials said Monday, reports AFP.

The violence came amid unconfirmed news reports that North Front-380 guerilla leader Jose Angel Talavera, also known as the "The Jackal." had returned from Honduras seeking to regroup his disbanded rebel forces.

Talavera was believed to have fled the country last year after he led some 400 rearmed, right-wing Contra rebels In a hostage taking which nearly paralysed the government and sparked fears of renewed civil war.

An army official said that Talavera had not been spotted, but confirmed that he had reentered the country to meet with his rebel force which had been all but disbanded by government troops.

Soldiers were deployed to northern Nicaragua around the village of Quilali. where officials had heard Talavera Intended to meet with Ihe rebels.

Army officials said that 11 rebels and five soldiers were killed in eight separate clashes since Friday. ,

Two soldiers and an unknown number of rebels were also wounded, and press reports said Talavera's brother Estehban was injured in the fighting.

Last August. Talavera's group captured e 38-member government delegation — Including the vice president and several Sandinista politicians — and held them hostage • In Quilali where officials were travelling to negotiate with the guerilla group.

Some 20 retired Sandinista soldiers retaliated by taking a group of conservative politicians hostage in Managua.