| Home | Site Feedback | Contact Us

Qatar News
World News
Business News
Sports News
Entertainment
Features
Young Editors
Commentary
Editorial
Photo Gallery
Discussion Forum
From Our Archives
Search
Free Newsletter
e-mail:
Contact Us
Contact Details
Advertising
Newspaper Subscribe
Letters To The Editor
Site Feedback
Curfew, gun shots fail to crush Nepal protest Web posted at: 4/10/2006 2:10:6 Source ::: Reuters
Nepali policemen holding a wounded demonstrator at Gongabhu in Kathmandu. Thousands of angry Nepalis tried to storm a state hospital yesterday, burned government vehicles and clashed with riot police despite a curfew aimed at stopping pro-democrcy rallies.
KATHMANDU: Violent protests against the king spread across Nepal yesterday as a third person was shot dead by troops and thousands of activists defied a curfew to burn government vehicles and clash with police. Seven main political parties, who began a four-day nationwide general strike and protests on Thursday, said they were extending the campaign indefinitely to pile pressure on King Gyanendra to end his absolute rule and restore democracy. One protester was killed yesterday when police opened fire in Banepa, about 30 km east of the capital Kathmandu, when demonstrators tried to storm a police post, a Home Ministry official said. It was the third death from firing by troops since Saturday. A woman bystander, wounded in police firing on Saturday in a town south of Kathmandu, also died yesterday. Another protester was shot dead by the army in the western tourist resort town of Pokhara, on Saturday. Nepal’s seven main political parties, who had called the nationwide strike and protests that shut down the country said they were extending the campaign indefinitely. “Our protest movement is reaching new heights. We will intensify it further,” said Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, a top leader of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party. The move was expected to cause the government to extend the curfew in Kathmandu and many other towns and keep mobile phone services suspended, government sources said. The royalist government warned of tough measures to curb the demonstrations. “So far, we have been restrained even during the curfew. We will get stricter now to preserve law and order and keep the situation normal,” Home Minister Kamal Thapa told a news conference without elaborating. Dozens of protesters were injured, including a 17-year-old man hit by a rubber bullet allegedly fired by police in the capital, said Rajendra Pandey, of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). The move was expected to cause the government to extend the curfew in Kathmandu and many other towns and keep mobile phone services suspended, government sources said. Tension was rising in Narayanghat, witnesses said, adding that the curfew had not stopped people from taking to the streets. In the western tourist resort town of Pokhara, thousands of people tried to storm a state hospital where the body of a man shot dead by troops on Saturday was taken, witnesses said. The seven political parties had planned a big rally against the king in Kathmandu on Saturday but tough security meant that only a handful of small protests could be held. But hundreds of protesters defied the curfew and demonstrated at several places on the outskirts of Kathmandu, burning tyres on roads, blocking them with rocks and logs, and pelting stones and bricks at riot police. “Police, army and people, we are all brothers, help us”, “We don’t accept monarchy”, they shouted, waving party flags as thick black smoke from burning tyres rose into a cloudy sky. At Gongabu, a Kathmandu suburb, police baton charged men throwing stones, injuring at least four who were later dragged away in security vehicles even as they bled from their heads. |
|  | Related Stories Spiritual guru keen to meet Prabhakaran in peace bid Dhaka Chamber calls for end to strikes European ministers pressure Myanmar on terror funding laws Four Manila cops face kidnap charges Car bomber hits at Afghan army base More World News

Qatar News | World Watch | Business News | Sports News | Entertainment | Features Young Editors | Commentary | Photo Gallery | Discussion Forum

Back to the Top | © 2001 The Peninsula. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us for any content re-production. To advertise on the site, please get in touch with our Ad. Manager. | Site designed and developed by: SiDSnetMinds