Children dead in Nepal bomb blast

Five children have been killed and three others wounded by a bomb left by suspected Maoist rebels, the army says.

Military officials said the children found the device on Saturday in a village about 400km (250 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.

It exploded as they were playing with it. The army's statement on Sunday could not be independently verified.

Correspondents say the blast is reported to have gone off without warning in an area under rebel control.

In a separate incident, five people, including opposition activists, were killed by an unidentified group in the southern district of Rupandehi on Saturday night, authorities said.

The assailants lynched four villagers and shot dead a fifth person, officials said.

Those killed include a local member of the opposition Nepali Congress and two former local officials.

No group has said it carried out the attack and the motive remains unknown.
Security officials blamed Maoist insurgents, but there has been no response from the rebels themselves.

More than 11,000 Nepalese have lost their lives during the nine-year-old Maoist insurgency.
The rebels want to replace the country's monarchy with a people's republic. Sphere: Related Content