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Nepal Necropsies Numerated
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Suspected communist rebels attacked two security checkpoints in western Nepal on Friday, killing at least six policemen and stealing weapons and ammunition, officials said.

The attackers gunned down four policemen at a temporary checkpoint near the main market in Nepalgunj, about 310 miles west of the capital, Katmandu, state-run Radio Nepal said. Police were searching for the attackers, who ran away fled with weapons and ammunition taken from the police post, the radio quoted police official Man Bahadur Rawal as saying. In a second attack, two policemen were killed on the outskirts of town and five were reported missing, a police official reached by telephone said.

The official, who refused to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the missing men could be hiding in nearby areas after the attack.

Thousands of troops fanned across the Nepalese capital Friday to enforce a government curfew ordered to foil a planned protest rally against King Gyanendra. About 15,000 army soldiers and policemen were guarding and patrolling the streets of Katmandu and the suburb of Lalitpur to enforce the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. curfew.

Streets were nearly deserted as Katmandu residents rushed to buy groceries and drive to work before the curfew began. The government said it could not allow the planned protest rally organized by Nepal's seven major political parties to take place because of information there would be violence by communist rebels.

The government also placed at least five top opposition leaders under house arrest for 90 days, sending troops to surround their homes, the National Human Rights Commission said. Those detained include the president of the Nepali Congress Party and the general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-01-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=140377