33 dead in Nepal violence
2006-03-21 12:32
Kathmandu - Ten police officers and 23 Maoists were killed in new violence in Nepal on Tuesday, two days after the rebels announced a fresh initiative to topple the monarchy in the world's only Hindu kingdom.
Officials and witnesses said rebels attacked a police post in the village of Birtamod around 600km east of Kathmandu as well as a police post in nearby Sunsari district.
The attacks in eastern Nepal left 10 police officers and 3 Maoists dead, chief district officer Bhola Prasad Shivakoti and police officials in the capital said.
Shivakoti said 20 officers were injured, three of them seriously.
A local journalist who witnessed the attack, Lila Baral, said the rebels arrived in two trucks and attacked the police post from all sides, taking control of the area for about 45 minutes before fleeing.
Markets shut, highways abandoned
All markets remained shut and highways were deserted after the incident.
The army meanwhile said its soldiers launched an offensive at Dharechowk 50km west of Kathmandu that killed at least 20 rebels.
"So far 20 bodies of Maoist rebels have been recovered from the clash site," an army official said.
On Monday, 13 Nepalese soldiers and a Maoist guerrilla were reported killed in a two-hour gunbattle just east of Kathmandu.
The upsurge in violence comes after Maoists said they had reached an understanding with political parties sidelined by the king to hold a mass pro-democracy protest next month in an attempt to topple the royal government.
King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed direct control of the impoverished Himalayan nation in February last year after blaming politicians for failing to stem the Maoist insurgency.
Britain, the United States and India cut military supplies to Nepal following the takeover by Gyanendra and have called on him to move to restore democracy.
At least 12 500 people have died since the Maoists launched an uprising a decade ago to topple the monarchy and install a communist republic.
On Sunday, the rebels decided to call off a six-day transport blockade which had slowed road traffic to a trickle, caused fuel shortages and sent prices of commodities soaring.