Posted on 06/23/2003 10:41:01 AM PDT by knighthawk
A third consignment of arms supplied by the United States to help Nepal in its fight against Maoist rebels has arrived here, sources said Monday.
The government in 2001 decided to purchase 5,000 M-16 automatic weapons from the United States for Rs 350 million ($4.6 million).
In addition, the US agreed to supply 8,000 more M-16s as military assistance.
The shipment of 3,000 rifles reached Kathmandu last week, the sources said, and altogether 11,000 weapons have been supplied so far.
"Some special units of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) are already using the up-to-date arms purchased from the United States government in view of the growing law and order problem posed by the Maoist insurgency," the source said.
The arms are being used by army special units including royal palace security personnel.
More than 7,800 people have been killed in the seven-year Maoist insurgency.
The rebels and the government declared a ceasefire in January and have held two rounds of talks, agreeing that soldiers must stay within five kilometres (three miles) of their barracks.
Last year a military team from the US Pacific command toured far western parts of the Himalayan kingdom, to assess the government's needs.
Washington was said to be dismayed by the growing strength of the insurgency, concerned for both its human cost and the threat it poses to democracy in Nepal.
The State Department has issued several warnings to Americans in the kingdom in the wake of repeated Maoist threats against Washington's diplomats. Two locally hired US diplomatic security guards in Nepal have been killed.
The communists have gotten nothing but agreement and concessions from the Nepal government all this time. I hope this sends a shot across the bow.
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