NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, NOV 30-DEC 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 002326 SIPDIS STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN SENSITIVE E.O 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PHUM CASC PGOV IN NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, NOV 30-DEC 06 REF: (A) KATHMANDU 2301 (B) KATHMANDU 2316 (C) KATHMANDU 2169 ¶1. (U) Summary: This week in Nepal, armed assailants attacked a Joint Secretary at a public event in Kathmandu; the army blamed political appointees for poor intelligence capabilities; Maoists destroyed three Village Development Committee buildings in Gulmi district, leaving only seven intact; and a development arm of the government announced that it would not fund projects in a Maoist-affected area due to security concerns. India stepped up the pressure on Maoists, and pledged to cooperate with Nepali border guards against terrorism and transnational crime. NGO workers escaped injury in a Maoist attack in southern Siraha district. Villagers who have abandoned their homes are ignoring Maoist appeals to return. The GON released information about recovery efforts in Jumla, estimates of airport damage and Maoist casualty figures. End summary. ARMED ASSAILANTS ATTACK JOINT SECRETARY -------------- ¶2. (U) Two assailants threatened Joint Secretary for Education Yuba Raj Pandey in broad daylight after storming an afternoon discussion of the Maoist-organized educational strike (ref A). The assailants pointed a pistol at the Joint Secretary and smeared his face with black paint, then waved the gun at other participants, including teachers' organizations, student organizations and journalists, before fleeing the scene, chanting Maoist slogans. STRONGER RNA TURNS ATTENTION TO INTELLIGENCE -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Royal Nepal Army (RNA) officials claim, with some exaggeration, that more competent technicians and better- trained flight crews together with recently acquired helicopters, arms and communication equipment are making their forces "stronger by the day." However, in addition to "excellent" local-level intelligence networks, the army says it must develop an active central intelligence agency in order to operate efficiently against the Maoists. The RNA put the blame for current poor intelligence on an excessive number of political appointees in the ranks of the National Investigation Department, Nepal's national intelligence service, under the Home Ministry. ONLY SEVEN VDCs REMAIN IN DEVASTATED GULMI DISTRICT -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) With the recent destruction of three more Village Development Committee (VDC) buildings in Gulmi, only seven of the central district's 79 VDCs remain intact. Maoist destruction of the other 72 VDCs has prompted government employees, including health workers, to move to the district headquarters, and reportedly has driven an increasing number of boys and girls from their village homes to avoid being used as human shields by the insurgents. Although some health workers have been providing services in the field, transportation of medicine and equipment is difficult, and most villagers have no access to health care of any kind. NO DEVELOPMENT IN RUKUM -------------- ¶5. (U) The government's Remote Area Development Committee (RADC) has halted all development projects in Rukum (in west central Nepal) due to security concerns. Even those that are nearing completion after four years of work and millions of rupees of investment are being abandoned. According to the RADC, since 2.8 million rupees allocated for Rukum last year could not be spent due to adverse security conditions, the committee has elected not to allocate more funding for the district. The RADC is also discouraging foreign investors from funding development projects there. INDIA TURNS UP THE HEAT -------------- ¶6. (U) Nepalese and Indian border officials meeting in Baharaich, India this week reportedly agreed to cooperate in controlling terrorism and other transnational crimes such as trafficking in persons and smuggling. Officials also pledged to cooperate in cross-border exchange of prisoners. ¶7. (U) Pressure by the GOI reportedly has forced an estimated 200 members of the All India Nepal Unity Society (AINUS) to leave Indian and move to Nepal's central Rolpa district. After the GOI banned AINUS for supporting the Maoists and handed over to the GON three of the organization's leaders, members of the group fled to Nepal to avoid arrest. According to press reports, the AINUS members are being trained by the Maoists in military skills. NGO WORKERS UNINJURED IN SIRAHA ATTACK -------------- ¶8. (U) Approximately 10-15 Nepali workers from Save the Children/US, CARE and Nepal Family Health Program (NFHP) were in Lahan, southern Siraha district for a conference during Wednesday night's attack by Maoist insurgents (ref B). The NGO workers remained inside their hotel when they heard gunfire outside. NFHP reported to USAID that security forces entered the hotel at about midnight, rounded up all the guests and took them to another location "for their own protection." None of the workers was harmed in the incident, and all were later released. ¶9. (U) Maoists destroyed police offices, forestry offices, three banks and the offices of the Regional Road Department in the attack, which came just two days after the insurgents announced plans to stop attacks on infrastructure. VILLAGERS LEAVING SALYAN DISTRICT -------------- ¶10. (U) Increasing numbers of villagers are leaving Salyan District, declared by the Home Ministry to be "the third most fragile" after Rolpa and Rukum, according to press reports from the district. Hundreds of local residents reportedly visit the district headquarters every day, to obtain an official letter allowing them to travel out of the midwestern district. ¶11. (U) Fleeing villagers have stated that they are living in constant fear of the insurgents, and that tight restrictions by government forces on food have made the situation in the district worse. Maoists reportedly purchased all the dry food in the district's four major markets on one day three months ago, sparking controls by security personnel on the importation of food into the district. ¶12. (U) Meanwhile, villagers taking shelter in Musikot, headquarters of midwestern Rukum district, report that Maoists have urged them publicly to return to their homes in the countryside. None of the displaced villagers has returned, despite the insurgents' appeal--and despite a reported warning to one of the villagers that he would be killed in the crossfire when the Maoists attack the district capital--due to belief that the call to return is a ploy to "trap" the local residents back into Maoist control. GON ESTIMATES AIRPORT DAMAGE AT 270 MILLION NRS -------------- --- ¶13. (U) According to a December 4 press release by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the reconstruction of 14 airports damaged by Maoist attacks will cost the GON 270 million Nrs (3.5 million USD). Nine of the fourteen airports are functioning at a reduced capacity following preliminary repairs. All fourteen airports were damaged in the last year. RECOVERY SLOW AFTER MAOIST ATTACKS -------------- ¶14. (U) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reported on November 30 that the local school, hospital and government offices in Khalanga, the capital of western Jumla district, are still closed two weeks after a major Maoist attack (ref C). According to the NHRC, Maoists looted approximately 1.5 million Nrs (190,000 USD) worth of medicine from the hospital, which is now is running out of supplies. The NHRC also reported that local residents cannot afford to buy food, since the banks have been shut down. Government workers have been unable to acquire their allotted ration of rice, since no Chief District Officer or Local Development Officer is present to write the ration slips. Forty government officers were killed in the November 14 attack. MOD RELEASES CASUALTY FIGURES -------------- ¶15. (U) The Ministry of Defence reported that fourteen Maoists were killed in retaliatory attacks by security forces on December 1, 2 and 3. According to the Ministry, the Maoists were suspected of having set booby traps for the security forces in seven districts around the country. Sixteen more Maoists were killed in retaliatory attacks on Thursday, December 5. MALINOWSKI