MAOISTS TARGET GOVERNMENT VEHICLES, OFFICES IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000592 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SA/INS AND DS/OP/NEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2012 TAGS: PTER PGOV NP SUBJECT: MAOISTS TARGET GOVERNMENT VEHICLES, OFFICES IN KATHMANDU BEFORE NATIONAL STRIKE REF: A. A) KATHMANDU 0570 ¶B. B) KATHMANDU 0340 Classified By: A/DCM Michael Hoza. Reason: 1.5 (B, D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a series of weekend attacks within the capital and its environs, Maoist insurgents bombed Government of Nepal (GON) vehicles and offices, including telecommunications facilities and the office of the state-owned press. The attacks come as the Maoists attempt to marshal popular support for--or popular fear of defying--the nationwide strike they have called for April 2-6 (Ref A). That the Maoists were able to pull off these attacks in the heart of the Kathmandu Valley, where the presence of the security forces is the strongest and most highly visible, indicates that the GON will have its hands full during the coming week to reassure the general public that it can guarantee safety for those who follow GON exhortations to defy the strike. End summary. ¶2. (U) From March 23-25 Maoist insurgents launched a series of small-scale attacks against GON targets--primarily vehicles--within Kathmandu and its immediate environs. On March 23 insurgents hurled a pipe bomb at a police van in Pathan (within the Kathmandu metropolitan area),injuring two policemen. In the early morning hours of March 24, about 15 Maoists reportedly threw petrol bombs at four GON-owned vehicles parked at the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) exchange in Hattigauda, about 4 km north of the city, completely destroying all four cars. The same day, a group of Maoists torched several NTC vehicles in Dachh, about 15 km east of the capital, while another group attacked a vehicle and transmitter at a third NTC office in Thali, about 12 km east of Kathmandu. In Kathmandu itself, suspected insurgents bombed and damaged four GON vehicles parked at an auto repair shop the morning of March 24. A petrol bomb was also hurled at a Road Department vehicle traveling within the city March 24, but no one was injured. A vehicle belonging to the Ministry of Education parked at a secondary school in Kathmandu was destroyed by a bomb March 25. ¶3. (U) In an incident mirroring the Feb. 12 attack on a Kathmandu Tax Office (Ref B),on March 25 suspected Maoists set off an explosive device in the bathroom of the state-owned Gorkhapatra press, injuring one person. Despite the injury, damage to the rest of the building is not extensive. ¶4. (C) Comment: With their apparent ability to penetrate the security forces' cordon around--and even within--Kathmandu, the Maoists seem to be sending a message to the general public that, despite GON claims to the contrary (Ref A),the police and army will be hard pressed to guarantee the safety of anyone who defies the April 2-6 general strike, or "bandh," called by the insurgents. Although there may be scant popular support for the Maoists or their burdensome bandh, there is substantial fear that the Maoists may enforce the bandh with violence which the security forces will be ill prepared to counter. The weekend's events have done little to calm these jitters or to promote faltering public confidence in the ability of the GON to squelch the bandh. End comment. MALINOWSKI