Nepal bomb blast kills one, strike begins to bite
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-04 14:43

Guerrillas set off a bomb in a Nepali tourist town killing a university student, as a nationwide strike called by the insurgents pushed up prices of foodstuffs, officials and traders said on Monday.

The bomb went off late on Sunday in Pokhara in western Nepal, where the strike call had been largely ignored, since the closure began on Saturday.

Three people were also wounded in the explosion and the town overlooking the scenic Himalayan mountains shut down after the attack, police and a witness said.

Nepalese buses and trucks stand idle on the Dhading highway west of Kathmandu on the second day of a nationwide strike called by rebels. A blockade paralysed the main entry point to Nepal's capital with hundreds of trucks and buses stranded awaiting security checks and armed escorts, a police source said. Troops and police were escorting truck and bus convoys to and from the capital to guard against attacks from the rebels. [AFP]

"It is completely closed after the blasts. It is quiet but tense," Jay Lal Lamsal, who works for a private company in Pokhara, said by phone.

The guerrillas called a 11-day strike to protest against King Gyanendra's assumption of power, detention of political leaders and suspension of civil liberties two months ago.

The rebels have in the past triggered bomb blasts around the country, particularly in towns, to scare people and enforce strike calls.

They set off a series of bombs in Nepalgunj in western Nepal late on Friday, killing one person and wounding 19.

Although authorities assured people that there were sufficient reserves of food and fuel around the country, and freight trucks were moving under armed escorts, traders said the rebel-sponsored strike had disrupted supplies.

"Of course, it is biting. Prices of consumer goods have increased steeply," said Harendra Bahadur Shrestha, chief of the Nepal Consumers' Forum.

Shrestha said prices of tomatoes had increased six-fold to 60 Nepali rupees (80 U.S. cents) per kg in capital Kathmandu.

"Traders have started hoarding and the government has failed to check this," he said.

King Gyanendra sacked the government on Feb.1 and took direct control of the poor Himalayan nation saying that political leaders had failed to crush the revolt.

The strike has crippled life in Nepalgunj and in the eastern commercial centre of Biratnagar.

People generally heed the rebels for fear of reprisals.

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