Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02KATHMANDU771
2002-04-18 11:48:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

TWO DEAD IN RASH OF CAPITAL BOMBINGS; MAOISTS

Tags:  PGOV PTER ASEC CASC PHUM PINR NP 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000771 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER ASEC CASC PHUM PINR NP
SUBJECT: TWO DEAD IN RASH OF CAPITAL BOMBINGS; MAOISTS
CALL FOR "INDEFINITE BANDH"


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000771

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER ASEC CASC PHUM PINR NEPAL'>NP
SUBJECT: TWO DEAD IN RASH OF CAPITAL BOMBINGS; MAOISTS
CALL FOR "INDEFINITE BANDH"



1. (SBU) Summary. A string of seven Maoist attacks across
the Kathmandu valley April 17-18 killed two and wounded
eight. Maoists attacked three street-side police posts,
in one case killing one officer and one civilian by-
stander. Attacks on government offices and the home of an
advisor to the Prime Minister were also reported. In an
April 15 statement, Maoist leader Prachanda threatened an
"indefinite" general strike following the one called for
April 23-27. Experience shows that once made, Prachanda's
statements are difficult to retract. The wave of violence
is an attempt to intimidate Kathmandu's residents into
observing the Maoists' strike. End Summary.

Bomb in Capital Kills Two
--------------


2. (SBU) A bomb thrown at a police stand on a busy
thoroughfare in Kathmandu April 17 killed two, according
to police sources. At around 8:00 p.m. local time, Maoist
insurgents threw an improvised explosive device made from
a pressure cooker at the small police stand. They then
fired on officers with pistols. One policeman died at the
scene; another remains in serious condition. Shrapnel
from the blast wounded three passers-by, one fatally.

Five More Injured in Similar Morning Incident
--------------


3. (SBU) Between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. local time, Maoists
attacked a half-dozen locations around the Kathmandu
valley. In an incident similar to the April 17 bombing, a
petrol bomb was thrown at a small police stand on a busy
street in Gattekulo, near the Kathmandu's Maitidevi
neighborhood. Two police and three passers-by were
injured, police related to Post. [Note: A Reuters wire
story erroneously reported six wounded, including four
members of the public. End Note.]

But No Other Injuries or Fatalities
--------------


4. (SBU) No other injuries or fatalities were reported in
the hour's five other incidents. The incidents occurred
in disparate locations in and around Kathmandu, and all
involved Molotov-cocktail-style attacks. Targets included
another police stand; a Health Department vehicle; an
Education Office; a Village District Committee building;
and the home of the economics advisor to Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba. The advisor, Dr. Prakash Saran Mahat,
was in New Delhi at the time. Fire caused significant
damage to downstairs rooms, but no one was harmed, Mahat
told us.

Chinese Worker Ambushed
--------------


5. (U) A Chinese contractor on a hydroelectric project was
injured when Maoists ambushed his vehicle April 17 in
Sindhupalchowk district north of the capital.

Maoist Leader Threatens "Indefinite Bandh"
--------------


6. (SBU) In an April 15 press release, Maoist leader
Prachanda stated that "there is a need of not only the
five-day bandh (general strike) but also of an indefinite
NEPAL bandh until there is no way out." The statement
continues, "the dream of the feudal tyrants, who like to
keep the great NEPALi people as the slaves of the Middle
Ages by frightening them with the names of America, the UK
and India, will never be fulfilled." [Note: Post's
translation of the April 15 statement has been forwarded
to SA/INS.]

Flight Diverted Due to Maoist Attack
--------------


7. (U) A Royal NEPAL Airlines Corporation (RNAC) flight to
Humla district in western NEPAL was diverted to NEPALgunj
after Maoists fired and threw bombs at the Simikot
airport. A newspaper correspondent for Kantipur, NEPAL's
leading vernacular daily, reported the story from Simikot,
Humla's district capital. No one was injured, and the
plane was undamaged, according to a press report. Reached
after hours, civil aviation authorities and the RNAC
office at Kathmandu's international airport could not
confirm the story.

Post Response
--------------


8. (SBU) Conoff is preparing a public announcement for CA
clearance. Post will hold a warden meeting for American
citizens April 19. An EAC meeting will be held April 19,
and another on April 22.

Comment: Saying and Making It So
--------------


9. (SBU) The Maoists have raised the stakes considerably
by threatening an "indefinite" bandh. As the aborted
April 2-6 bandh showed, Prachanda has difficulty
retracting his statements once they are in circulation.
As in the past, in response to Prachanda's calls for a
general strike April 23-27, Maoist cadres have ratcheted
up the violence in order to intimidate urban residents
into staying home. Also as in the past, government
facilities and officials were the targets of this most
recent wave of attacks - although their increasingly
indiscriminate execution have again killed and wounded
innocent by-standers.

MALINOWSKI