AP Wire | 02/20/2005 | Nepal rebels attack highway convoy

Posted on Sun, Feb. 20, 2005
NEELESH MISRA
Associated Press

CHARAUNDI, Nepal - Communist rebels attacked a highway convoy on Sunday, wounding two Nepalese soldiers and a civilian after the insurgents erected roadblocks, planted bombs and shot at motorists.

The roadblocks in Charaundi, some 55 miles southwest of the capital, Katmandu, were the latest attempt by rebels to control the roads linking the capital to the rest of the country. The rebels often halt traffic on the roads for days at a time, cutting off supplies to Katmandu.

The insurgents threatened to block major roads to protest King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 decision to dismiss the government, suspend civil liberties and form a new Cabinet under his own chairmanship. The moves caused an international outcry.

The king said the move was necessary because the previous government failed to control the intensifying insurgency.

Thousands of vehicles were stranded for hours Sunday waiting for security forces to clear the highway. Army officers allowed traffic to resume only after road had been cleared of mines.

"We have been foiling their attempts to blockade Katmandu. This is one of the battles for us," Brig. Gen. Dipak Gurung, the chief army spokesman, told The Associated Press. "It's a seesaw battle, but we are succeeding."

But militants hiding in a wooded area alongside the highway fired at a passing convoy, wounding three people, including two soldiers.

"We were traveling on the top of the bus, when they started firing from both sides of the road. The bus stopped and we quickly got inside, but more bullets came through the window," said Krishna Poudel, 18.

Elsewhere in the troubled Himalayan nation, a group of 300 insurgents pretending to be a wedding procession killed one police officer and wounded five others, an official said.

Saturday's attack was in Mahendranagar, about 200 miles southeast of Katmandu. Soldiers rushed to the area, but the rebels had fled.

The rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, want to replace Nepal's monarchy with a communist state. The insurgency has left more than 10,500 dead since it was launched in 1996.

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