Communist rebels stepped up their campaign to block highways disrupting food and fuel supplies across Nepal as seven people were killed in clashes between villagers and rebels, officials said Monday. The insurgents ordered disruptions of the country's transport network to protest King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 decision to dismiss the government and suspend civil liberties. Rebels attacked passenger convoys, burned trucks and set off land mines late Sunday to stop travel on the Prithvi Highway, the country's lifeline, killing one truck driver and wounding seven passengers, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Dipak Gurung said.The road's closure was likely to cause food and fuel shortages and send prices soaring across the Himalayan state. Also Sunday, rebels set off homemade bombs when residents tried to clear tree trunks and boulders placed by the rebels on other roads, injuring four people, police said.
Showing rare defiance, armed villagers challenged the Maoist militants in the southwestern Kapilbastu district, killing six of them on Sunday, Gurung said. Unlike in the past, villagers are no longer succumbing to rebel demands and have killed at least 20 insurgents in the past four days, Gurung said.
| Let's hope this is a trend ... |