Strike shuts Nepal down, rebel raid kills 22, Over 400 protestors rounded up

Police rounded up over 400 protesters across the country on Thursday, the first day of the four-day general strike called by the seven-party alliance.

Out of them more than 300 protestors were arrested from various parts of Kathmandu and Lalitipur alone, for defying government ban on rallies and gatherings, parties said.

Small protest rallies were taken out from Koteshwor, Naya Baneshwor, Chabahil, Jorpati, Basundhara Chowk, Maitidevi, Gongabu, Thamel, Chhetrapati, Kalanki, Kalimati, Kirtipur and other areas.

According to Secretary of Nepali Congress Party, Shovakar Parajuli, over 50 party members and student leaders including Sujata Koirala, Shashank Koirala, Dinbandhu Shrestha were arrested by police from various areas in the valley in the morning.

Similarly 18 cadres of Nepal Congress-Democratic party were also detained by the police during demonstrations.
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A fierce attack on a town by Maoist guerrillas left 22 people dead in Nepal, hours before a general strike against the king's grip on power shut down the Himalayan nation on Thursday, authorities said.

The leftist rebels, who have been fighting for the last decade to topple the monarchy, struck Malangwa, a town 350 km (220 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, late on Wednesday.

They fired at soldiers guarding government offices and security posts and attacked a jail, freeing more than 100 inmates -- among them some of their comrades -- before fleeing.

Six policemen, six guerrillas and two civilians were killed in the fighting, police said.

"The body of a Maoist in combat dress is lying in front of my house," Yadav Subedi, a Malangwa resident, told Reuters by phone.

Some policemen and senior bureaucrats were missing after the fighting, Subedi and local journalist Rajesh Mishra said.

A Russian-built Mi-17 army helicopter sent to the area with troops crashed near Malangwa, killing eight of the 10 soldiers on board, an army officer said. The other two men were missing.

The Maoists, making their first such claim, said rebels had shot down the helicopter but the army said the cause was being investigated.

"I saw the helicopter broken into three pieces in a field. Many government buildings are on fire or are smouldering. Unexploded bombs are strewn around," Mishra said.

"People are terror-struck. No one has come out."

News of the raid came as a four-day nationwide strike called by opponents of King Gyanendra shut the Hindu kingdom down.

Nepal's seven main political parties, which called the strike, have vowed to defy a government ban on protests to launch what they expect to be a decisive campaign for democracy.

Although the guerrillas, who are fighting to establish a communist state, are supporting the political groups as part of a pact against the king, they are not participating in the protests and the rallies are expected to be largely peaceful.
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