 |
Kathmandu Saturday November 24, 2001 Marga 09, 2058.
|
Maoists strike at several districts
Four-month old ceasefire broken
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Nov 23 – Maoists insurgents
today broke the four-month old truce with a big bang launching attacks at many places
across the country.
It was not immediately known if anyone was
injured or killed in today’s attacks.
Two days after the Maoist strongman, Comrade
Prachanda dropped a bombshell by saying that the four-month old cease-fire has lost its
relevance, the Maoists on Friday struck at several districts across Nepal, exploding bombs
in Surkhet, Rukum, Kalikot, Kaski, Makwanpur, Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung, Khotang and
various other parts of the country.
In Surkhet, a district in mid-western Nepal,
the suspected Maoists blew Air Ananya helicopter that was stationed at the local airport.
Last year too the Maoists had set ablaze another chopper of the same company for carrying
policemen to the insurgency-hit areas.
Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, army and policemen
foiled attempts by the Maoists to blow up the depot of the Nepal Oil Corporation.
It is learnt that the acting Commander in
Chief, Durga Nath Aryal has instructed army personnel throughout the country to stay on
high alert and to take the situation in control if any untoward incident occurred.
Meanwhile, Gopendra Bahadur Pandey,
Spokesperson at the Home Ministry said late Friday that the security units are taking the
developments "very seriously".
Police claimed that they had gathered
information regarding Maoists who had prepared ‘pressure cooker bomb’ to fight
police.
The Maoists have also partially damaged the
building of the district Administration Office at Hetauda. It is also learnt that before
the attack Maoists also carried out a torch rally.
The police and the army were able to defuse a
bomb that was placed at the main entrance gate of Nepal Lever Limited, Basamari VDC.
Emergency meeting of the District Security Committee was held immediately following the
attack.
On Wednesday, chairman of the Communist Party
of Nepal (Maoist) Comrade Prachanda announced that the justification for the talks and the
four month-long cease-fire were both over. "We make it clear with this statement that
our bid to establish peace has been rendered unsuccessful by reactionary and fascist
forces." Ominously, he had also warned that, "due to this situation, the
justification for the cease-fire also does not exist." Yet, he went to emphasise that
the doors were open for the talks under a "new process" without clarifying what
the process meant.
The government and the Maoists have already
held three rounds of peace talks, without any major breakthrough. Before the start of the
third round, the Maoists, dropped their chief demand of republic state but insisted on the
formation of an interim government and holding election for constituent assembly. Many in
the ruling and opposition parties saw this as a ploy to realise their goal for republic
through back door.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who on
Wednesday had expressed shock over the Maoists decision to back out of the talks, said
yesterday that the Maoists would be responsible for any bloodbath that would happen.
Today, he went a step further. He warned the
rebels that should they resort to violence, the government would give a fitting reply.
Other Stories
|
