14 die in Nepal violence

At least 14 people died in a fresh burst of violence in southern Nepal today, 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.

Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Butwal, suspected rebels fatally shot the town’s police chief and his assistant. The rebels escaped after the attack.

Separately, insurgents killed four people in overnight attacks on villages in the south, police said.

Villagers in the area have shown rare defiance of the rebels, killing 21 guerrillas in the past few days.

The rebels announced yesterday that they were lifting the blockade to ease the discomfort of the common people. However, they vowed to step up their campaign against the army.

The insurgents, who have been fighting for more than eight years to topple the monarchy and install communist rule, had blocked the country’s highways using crude bombs, mines and boulders, disrupting deliveries of basic supplies across the Himalayan kingdom and choking off major cities.

Today, some 40 oil tankers brought much-needed gasoline, diesel and kerosene to the capital, Katmandu, which had been facing a fuel shortage. Dozens of trucks loaded with fresh vegetables and fruits, rice, flour, chickens and milk also arrived in the capital.

The insurgents said the blockades were in protest at King Gyanendra’s decision on February 1 to sack the government, impose emergency rule, and suspend civil liberties.

The monarch, who says he was forced to act because of the insurgency, has ignored repeated calls from the international community to restore democracy.

Nepal’s key allies, India and Britain, have suspended military aid and the United States says it also is considering similar action. Several countries have withdrawn their ambassadors from Nepal and stopped aid.

More than 10,500 people have died in the communist insurgency since 1996.