Latest Kathmandu Stories

By Gopal Sharma and Y.P. Rajesh KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A fierce attack on a town by Maoist guerillas left 15 people dead in Nepal, hours before a general strike over the king's grip on power shut down the Himalayan nation on Thursday, authorities said. The leftist rebels, who have been fighting for the last decade to topple the monarchy, struck Malangwa, a town 350 km (220 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, late on Wednesday. They fired at soldiers guarding government offices and security...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - At least 11 school children and a teacher were wounded on Friday when Maoist rebels set off an explosion at a school in west Nepal, the army said. The blast took place in Dailekh district, 550 km (340 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu while children were appearing for a school-leaving examination, an army officer said. "The injured are undergoing treatment in a local hospital," he said. Dailekh is a stronghold of the Maoists who want to overthrow the Hindu...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - At least 11 schoolchildren and a teacher were wounded on Friday when suspected Maoist rebels set off an explosion at a school in west Nepal, the army said. The incident took place in Dailekh district, 340 miles west of the capital Kathmandu, while children were appearing for a school-leaving examination, an army officer said. "The injured are undergoing treatment in a local hospital," he said, adding the nature of the injuries was not known. Dailekh is a stronghold...

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - At least 23 Maoist rebels and 10 policemen were killed on Tuesday in escalating violence across Nepal following the end of a rebel-led road blockade, authorities said. Maoists seeking to topple Nepal's Hindu monarchy have stepped up attacks on security bases, towns and cities since January, when they ended a unilateral ceasefire after the government refused to reciprocate. King Gyanendra triggered a political crisis 13 months ago, seizing power...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - At least 21 Maoist rebels and 10 police were killed as violence escalated across Nepal on Tuesday following the end of a rebel-led road blockade, authorities said. On Monday, 13 soldiers and one rebel were killed in a gun battle east of the capital, Kathmandu, a day after rebels ended a six-day blockade that had choked supplies and disrupted transport across the mountainous nation. Maoists have stepped up attacks on security bases and on towns and cities since...

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - At least 16 people, including 13 soldiers, were killed in a new outbreak of violence in Nepal on Monday, a day after Maoist rebels ended a crippling road blockade, the army and witnesses said. The soldiers and a rebel were killed in a gun battle in Kavre district 80 km (50 miles) east of Kathmandu early in the day as the guerrillas attacked soldiers on their way to fix water supply lines disrupted by the Maoists. "There was a gun battle for nearly...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - At least 13 Nepali soldiers were killed in a clash with Maoist rebels in the east of the country on Monday, a day after the guerrillas ended a crippling road blockade, an army officer said. He said one Maoist rebel was also killed in the fighting in Kavre district, 80 km (50 miles) east of Kathmandu, when the guerrillas attacked soldiers who were on their way to fix water supply lines disrupted by the Maoists.

By Gopal Sharma KHATRI POUWA, Nepal (Reuters) - Soldiers carrying automatic rifles patrolled key highways in Nepal on Tuesday but normally busy roads were all but deserted as an indefinite blockade of the capital by Maoist rebels began. Piling pressure on King Gyanendra, who seized power last year, the rebels are attempting to cut hill-ringed Kathmandu off from the rest of the country, a move criticized by political parties who have said it will only hurt ordinary Nepalis. "We patrol...

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Roads across Nepal were deserted on Tuesday, the first day of an indefinite blockade of Kathmandu and other major towns called by Maoist rebels mounting pressure on King Gyanendra who seized full power last year. The Maoists, fighting to overthrow the Hindu monarchy and set up a single party communist republic, have ordered the closure of all roads to the capital, disrupting the movement of people and goods to the city of more than 1.5 million....

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police began hunting on Saturday for a teenaged boy who some people believe is an reincarnation of Buddha after he disappeared from the site where he had been meditating for almost 10 months. Fifteen-year-old Ram Bahadur Bamjon has not been seen since early Saturday, said Hari Krishna Khatiwada, a district official of Bara, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. The boy had been meditating there without food or water since May. Some of his followers are...