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Guerillas abduct 1,500 youths
Nepal rebels kill two policemen
4/9/2004
KATHMANDU, April 8: Two Nepali policemen were killed and dozens were missing after Maoist guerrillas raided a police post in the east of the strife-torn country, police said today, report agencies.
It was the second such attack this week.
About 60 policemen were on duty at the post in Pashupatinagar in Ilam district when hundreds of rebels stormed it around 10.45 p.m. (1700 GMT) Wednesday, a police spokesman told Reuters.
"About a dozen policemen are safe while the rest are still missing," he said. "We have sent reinforcements and a search is underway."
Authorities say the rebels, who are fighting to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy and establish communist rule, usually ask policemen who surrender after attacks to carry loads for them as they return to their bases.
"They (rebels) also attacked a state bank, a government office and ransacked several shops and fled," Binita Chhetri, a Pashupatinagar resident, said by phone.
Ilam, a tea-growing region, is about 600 km (375 miles) east of Kathmandu and borders Darjeeling in eastern India.
The Wednesday night raid came as life across Nepal was crippled for a third day due to a general strike called by the guerillas.
The insurgents also set off two bombs in Kathmandu late Wednesday, wounding four people.
Meanwhile, the anti-government guerillas abducted around 1,500 youths from three villages of Kanchanpur district in far-western Nepal Wednesday evening,.
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