Probe into Nepal 'Maoist' attack

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/6939995.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Former Maoist rebels have attacked a police post near Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, and stolen the officers' weapons, local officials said.

If confirmed it would be the first such attack since the Maoists signed a landmark peace deal with the government in November and ended their insurgency.

The local Maoist commander denied any of his cadres were involved.

Two dozen men stormed the police post in Phikure village, 40km (25 miles) north of the capital, officials said.

The local commander said he would carry out an investigation and action would be taken against those involved.

The policemen were tied up with ropes and three rifles were stolen from them, a BBC correspondent in Kathmandu said.

He said the policemen were freed by villagers after the attackers fled.

Envoy's warning

After the rebels began their insurgency in 1996, at least 13,000 people were killed in fighting with security forces.

Under the peace agreement the Maoists signed last year, the former rebels and the army agreed to place their weapons under United Nations supervision.

But the Maoists themselves have admitted that thousands of combatants are still not confined in camps and weapons are not stored in containers.

And in the past few months, many Maoist cadres have openly expressed their frustration with Nepal's "experiments with democracy", the BBC's Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu says.

He says concern over public displays of weapons by the Maoists has risen recently.

Last month, the then US ambassador to Nepal accused the former rebels of continuing to use violence and warned that the country's peace process was in danger.