Fresh wave of violence in Nepal leaves 14 dead

AT least 14 people died in a fresh burst of violence in southern Nepal yesterday, after communist rebels lifted a two-week highway blockade that had crippled the flow of essential supplies in protest at the king’s recent power grab.

The rebels ambushed an army truck carrying soldiers on a regular patrol near the town of Patlaiya, about 160 miles south of Katmandu, killing eight of them, police said.

Another 10 soldiers suffered injuries in the attack and have been transported to hospitals, said a spokesman at the army headquarters in Katmandu.