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The people of Kathmandu no longer feel shielded from rebels' bloody uprising

Brutality and murder have become a feature of life in Nepal over the past nine years of Maoist rebellion. But the events of the past 10 days have been shocking even by local standards.

The people of Kathmandu have long been protected from the grim realities of life in the countryside. Now a string of damning human rights reports and a daring attack on the edge of the city have brought the crisis closer to home.

On Saturday night the rebels overran a police station and executed five officers in the Kathmandu valley.

It was the first time they had mounted such a raid so close to the capital.

The next day, shocked locals in the quiet and pretty traditional village of Sankhu described a meticulously planned assault.

'It was a very peaceful place until yesterday,' said a villager  as he nervously watched heavily armed police reinforcements arrive.

An attack force of up to 100 Maoists wearing civilian clothes arrived at 5pm in hijacked buses and taxis.

'First, two people attacked from the side with pistols, then  the others  went to the main gate,' the witness said.

He said the police lay on the ground and surrendered without firing a shot.

Three were then shot dead execution style and two, including the inspector in charge, were beheaded with kukris, the long curved knife made famous by the Gurkhas.

The attack came during an eight-day period in which at least 148 people have died.

Last Wednesday, the army suffered its heaviest daily losses in months when  21 men were killed in an ambush in the country's west.

A further 10 soldiers were killed in an ambush northeast of Kathmandu on Sunday morning. And five people were injured last week by  a string of  bombs in the capital targeting government buildings.

Analysts say the upsurge in violence is intended to put pressure on the government to agree to one of the key Maoist demands, a constituent assembly with the power to decide the future of the monarchy.

Those demands were backed up yesterday by a strike called by a pro-Maoist group that left the streets of the city deserted,  with schools closed and transport grinding to a halt.

Since 2002, when parliament was dissolved, King Gyanendra has appointed three short-lived governments that have refused to negotiate  the future of the monarchy.

The government also faces mounting questions over its legitimacy and conduct. The past week has brought a stream of reports from the UN, the European Union and international human rights groups accusing the army of gross rights violations.

According to the UN, Nepal has the highest rate of 'disappearances' in government custody of any country in the world.



Maoist war is inching closer to edgy capital