Six dead in Nepal Maoist attack
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 5 April 2006: 13.06 CET) - Six Nepalese police officers were killed on Wednesday in an ambush by Maoist rebels in the country’s east, news agencies reported.
Police reports said the troops were transporting school examination papers when they were ambushed.
The attack comes a day before Nepal’s seven-opposition party alliance is set to launch a four-day nationwide general strike, backed by the rebels.
On Monday, rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire in Kathmandu and two neighboring districts to facilitate the strike.
The government has dismissed the rebel’s call for a ceasefire as insincere and has pledged to crush the opposition protests.
On Wednesday, police detained dozens of opposition politicians in a crackdown in the capital, Katmandu, to thwart the general strike.
Police also detained 50 pro-democracy activists, including journalists, lawyers, professors, and doctors, who defied a ban on rallies in the capital.
“The protests mask a dangerous program by rebels who are fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist regime,” Home Minister Kamal Thapa told a Wednesday press conference.
King Gyanendra seized power early in February last year in a bloodless coup with the help of the army.
The rebels are fighting to overthrow the monarchy and install a secular, community government with more rights for the people. The decade-long conflict has claimed some 13,000 lives.
Police reports said the troops were transporting school examination papers when they were ambushed.
The attack comes a day before Nepal’s seven-opposition party alliance is set to launch a four-day nationwide general strike, backed by the rebels.
On Monday, rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire in Kathmandu and two neighboring districts to facilitate the strike.
The government has dismissed the rebel’s call for a ceasefire as insincere and has pledged to crush the opposition protests.
On Wednesday, police detained dozens of opposition politicians in a crackdown in the capital, Katmandu, to thwart the general strike.
Police also detained 50 pro-democracy activists, including journalists, lawyers, professors, and doctors, who defied a ban on rallies in the capital.
“The protests mask a dangerous program by rebels who are fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist regime,” Home Minister Kamal Thapa told a Wednesday press conference.
King Gyanendra seized power early in February last year in a bloodless coup with the help of the army.
The rebels are fighting to overthrow the monarchy and install a secular, community government with more rights for the people. The decade-long conflict has claimed some 13,000 lives.
posted by Marko at 4/05/2006 08:00:00 AM
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