A strike called by Maoist rebels has shut down Nepal as businesses closed and vehicles stayed off the road for a second day.

Nepal’s parliament has approved a three-month extension of the state of emergency declared to facilitate a military crackdown on Maoist rebels who resumed their war against the government last year.

At least 48 policemen are thought to have been killed when suspected Maoist rebels attacked a district headquarters and a nearby airport in northwestern Nepal, police said today.