Posted on 08/31/2002 11:21:36 PM PDT by swarthyguy
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP): Suspected Maoist rebels attacked a used car showroom in Nepal's capital on Sunday, police said. No one was injured in the attack.
Guards at the car dealership said four people armed with shotguns and pistols attacked the showroom and damaged at least two dozen cars. They fired their guns in the air and left an explosive device, the guards said.
The guards, who were afraid to give their names, said they managed to toss the explosive out on the street, and it exploded upon hitting the ground. Windows in nearby houses were damaged.
It was the fourth explosion in the past few days in Katmandu, the capital of the Himalayan kingdom, and police blame Maoist guerrillas fighting to topple the constitutional monarchy.
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Nepal Says 15 Maoist Rebels Killed in Crackdown
August 31, 2002 10:15 AM ET
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KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Troops in Nepal killed at least 15 Maoist rebels, who are fighting to overthrow the Hindu kingdom's constitutional monarchy, the defense ministry said on Saturday.
Seven rebels were shot dead in two battles in Kalikot district and three died in Dhading district on Friday, Bhupendra Prasad Poudel, a defense ministry spokesman, said in a statement. Both districts, in west Nepal, are known to be Maoist strongholds.
Three rebels died in an army operation in Dhanusa district in east Nepal and the rest were killed in Kailali in the trouble-torn kingdom's western region.
The statement did not say if the soldiers suffered any casualties.
Government reports on rebel deaths cannot be independently verified as the fighting takes place in remote areas and the guerrillas do not comment on battles.
The rebels, who derive inspiration from the revolutionary ideas of the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, have pledged to redistribute land and wealth in the desperately poor nation of 23.1 million people.
"Security forces have recovered arms, bombs, explosives and equipment used in land mines in the battles," Poudel said.
At least 4,700 people, mostly rebels, have died in the Maoist revolt that started in early 1996.
Close call.
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