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[KATHMANDU, 14 November 2006] - Thousands of Nepali children separated from their families during a decade-old conflict between government forces and Maoist rebels remain missing, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. "We are extremely concerned that children below 18, who have been associated with ... armed groups in Nepal, have not yet been returned or reintegrated with their families and communities," Suomi Sakai, UNICEF representative in Nepal, said in a statement late on Monday. Local and international rights groups have accused the Maoists of kidnapping and conscripting children to their cause, a charge the rebels reject. Last week, the rebels agreed with the ruling seven-party alliance to confine their fighters to camps, store their arms under UN watch and join an interim government by December 1. Both sides are expected to sign a ceasefire deal on Thursday, as part of a comprehensive peace accord. The pact is expected to address the issue of children affected by the conflict. "All children should be reached, irrespective of whether they were combatants or non-combatants and whether they were conscripted or had joined voluntarily," Sakai said. More than 13,000 people - many of them children - have been killed in the Maoist revolt that started in 1996 in the impoverished Himalayan nation.