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| Monday, 23 August 2004 |
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Nepal seeks to break rebel siege with air patrols KATHMANDU, Sunday (Reuters, AFP) Military helicopters provided air cover to vehicles ferrying crucial supplies to the Nepali capital on Sunday, as a blockade called by Maoist rebels stretched into its fifth day, a senior army officer said. The blockade is the latest tactic by the rebels, who have been waging an 8-year-old rebellion to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy and establish a communist republic. More than 10,000 people have died in the revolt. The unprecedented siege of the hill-ringed capital, home to 1.5 million people, has led to fuel rationing and pushed prices of some food items up. But the city is yet to witness panic buying as it has supplies to last nearly a month. "We are providing air cover and have increased troops on the highways to give a sense of security to transport operators and people," said Brigadier General Rajendra Thapa. "But we can't force them to come out." The military had also carried out air patrols to locate rebel hideouts in the forests and hills close to the roads, he said. There has been no violence connected with the blockade and the rebels have not physically blocked highways or stopped vehicles from moving in and out of Kathmandu. Earlier more than 1,000 Maoist rebels stormed a district headquarters in Nepal's northwestern mountains, bombing government buildings and killing at least one soldier, as they kept up a blockade of the capital, police said Sunday. The rebels attacked Khalanga, the headquarters of the Jumla district, late Saturday and fought security forces for about six hours, said Keshav Prasad Baral, deputy inspector general of police in the western city of Nepalgunj. "The rebels also broke into jail to rescue five prisoners, while they kidnapped six policemen," Baral said. "Other policemen are out of reach and the whereabouts of there is not known," he said. He said the rebels bombed the airport and several government buildings, badly damaging a police post, a development office and a land revenue office. A police post normally has around 150 men. |
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