Rebel violence on upswing in Nepal

June 17, 2000
Web posted at: 12:07 a.m. HKT (1607 GMT)

KATMANDU, Nepal -- Rebel violence in Nepal killed five police officers and wounded eight this week, police said on Friday.

Authorities said Maoist rebels fighting to overthrow Nepal's constitutional monarchy hurled a bomb at a police patrol late Thursday night in the town of Gorhka, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Katmandu. Two policemen were killed and five injured in the explosion.

On Wednesday, three police officers were killed and three more wounded in a gunfight with rebels at Junbesi, in east Nepal's Solukhumbhu district.

Last week, 21 people -- including five children -- were killed when rebels attacked a police post and bombed a house in west Nepal.

Rebel-related violence has killed more than 1,300 people -- 194 of them police officers -- since the Maoists began their drive to set up a communist government four years ago.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From Asiaweek.COM | Nepal: The Rumbles Grow Louder
March 10, 2000

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