US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU1141

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001141 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY 
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 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA ALVERSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, PHUM, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, JUNE 11-18, 
2004 
 
REFERENCE:  (A) KATHMANDU 1095 
 
            (B) KATHMANDU 1119 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  An early morning ambush by Maoists left 21 Armed Police 
Force (APF) personnel dead and sixteen injured (Ref A). 
Seven security personnel were killed and twenty-two suffered 
injuries in other incidents this week.  Indian police 
arrested five Nepalese Maoists in the Indian state of Bihar. 
Twenty-three insurgents reportedly also were killed this 
week.  Children forcibly recruited into the Maoists' army 
alleged abuse at the hands of senior Maoists and were forced 
to undergo weapons training. Over 1,800 civilians, mostly 
students and teachers, were abducted this week.  The 
educational strike called by the student wing of the Maoists 
reportedly has been called off after negotiations with a 
government task force.  Seven civilians were killed and 18 
others injured.  Maoist-planted bombs damaged government and 
commercial establishments including an American-owned carpet 
factory.  End Summary. 
 
MAOIST AMBUSH KILLS 21 
---------------------- 
 
2.  A Maoist ambush in the far-western district of Banke of 
an Armed Police Force (APF) convoy left 21 policemen dead 
and sixteen injured (Ref A).  Four others are missing. 
Among the dead is the APF Inspector in charge of the 
detachment.  In the early morning of June 14, the convoy of 
two trucks hit a command-detonated mine, and subsequently 
came under small arms fire from the Maoists. 
 
3.  Five Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldiers and two policemen 
were killed by Maoists this week.  On June 17, Maoists 
attacked a group of plainclothes policemen in the western 
district of Arghakhanchi, killing two and seriously wounding 
two others.  Five soldiers also died in Maoist ambushes: one 
was killed and two injured in the central district of 
Makwanpur on June 14; another in Damak on June 13; and one 
was killed and one injured in the eastern district of Jhapa 
on June 13.  An RNA soldier was killed and two others 
injured by a Maoist-laid landmine in the central district of 
Makwanpur on June 12, and another soldier was injured in the 
central district of Chitwan on June 11.  On June 9, Maoists 
shot dead two RNA personnel in the western district of 
Tanahu. 
 
MAOISTS ARRESTED IN INDIA 
------------------------- 
 
4.  On June 12, Indian police reportedly detained five 
Nepalese Maoists in the Indian state of Bihar bordering 
Nepal's central lowland district of Bara.  During a raid on 
the Maoists' safe house, the police recovered guns and 
ammunition.  The Tamang Autonomous Revolutionary People's 
Council, a Maoist affiliated organization, announced a ban 
on Indian vehicles and screenings of Indian films from June 
15 to 21 in the central districts of Makwanpur, Dhading, 
Nuwakot and Rasuwa to protest the arrests.  The ban was 
lifted on June 16. 
 
MAOISTS KILLED 
-------------- 
 
5.  Twenty-three insurgents were killed and twenty-five 
injured in clashes with security forces this week: three in 
Ramechhap on June 17; three in the eastern district of Jhapa 
on June 13; two in the western district of Lamjung on June 
12; ten rebels were killed and twenty-five sustained 
injuries in the eastern district of Terhathum on June 13; 
three in the far-western district of Kailali district, and 
one insurgent in the far-western district of Doti on June 
 
6.  On June 11, a Maoist was killed in the eastern district 
of Terhathum.  On that same day, a Maoist district member 
was also killed in the central district of Sarlahi and 
another in the mid-western district of Dolpa.  Security 
forces shot dead a Maoist area committee member in the far- 
western district of Dadeldhura on June 11.  On June 15, one 
rebel was killed in the central district of Dhading, and 
another in the far-western district of Kanchanpur; four were 
killed in the far-western district of Bajura, and another in 
the mid-western district of Jumla on June 16; and on the 
same day, one rebel was killed in the eastern district of 
Panchthar. 
 
ALLEGED CHILD ABUSE IN MAOIST CAMPS 
----------------------------------- 
 
7.  On May 30, the local press reported that three Maoists 
"cadres" in the eastern district of Taplejung attacked and 
killed their own commander and injured another to avenge 
abuse inflicted against them.  A follow-up article on June 
10 revealed that these "cadres" were sixteen-year-old boys 
who had been forced to join the Maoist army.  The boys 
alleged that they were treated "very cruelly" by senior 
Maoists and forced to undergo weapons training.  The three 
boys, who surrendered to security forces after the murder of 
their commander, said they were also forced to carry heavy 
bags, pressure cooker bombs, ammunition, and guns.  Security 
officials in the eastern district also rescued two children, 
eleven and fourteen, who had been forcibly recruited.  The 
children will be placed in a rehabilitation center. 
 
MAOISTS INTENSIFY ABDUCTION 
--------------------------- 
 
8.  According to the local press, the insurgents abducted 
over 1,800 civilians across the country this week to 
participate in Maoist programs: 500 students from the far- 
western district of Dadeldhura on June 11; 18 students from 
the eastern district of Udayapur on June 10; and 200 
students on June 11; four-dozen teachers from the western 
district of Tanahu on June 12; 49 civilians, including 38 
teachers, from the eastern district of Dhankuta on June 9; 
11 civilians from the far-western district of Doti on June 
10, and 79 civilians, including 76 local businessmen, from 
the central district of Sindhuli on June 13; On June 12, two- 
dozen teachers from the western district of Lamjung, and 500 
civilians, including 45 teachers, from the mid-western 
district of Kalikot on June 6; 40 students from the eastern 
district of Taplejung on June 13, and on June 8, six 
civilians from the mid-western district of Surkhet; three 
civilians from the western district of Gorkha on June 13. 
The rebels also reportedly abducted a Junior Technical 
Assistant (JTA) of Agriculture Development Office in the 
eastern district of Siraha on June 10, and a Royal Nepal 
Army (RNA) soldier in the western district of Syangja on 
June 12. Maoists reportedly abducted 300 students from the 
far-western district of Baitadi, and 90 others from the 
eastern district of Taplejung on June 16. 
 
SCHOOLS TO REOPEN 
----------------- 
 
9.  On June 17, the All Nepal National Independent Union 
(Revolutionary), the Maoist affiliated student wing, 
reportedly agreed to call off the nationwide education 
strike in affect since June 6.  A special Government of 
Nepal (GON) task force formed to help resolve the 
educational chaos said the strike would be called off and 
the government would withdraw the "terrorist" tag it had 
placed on the group "within a few days."  ANNISU-R demanded 
that tag be lifted as one of their preconditions for 
negotiations.  They are also demanding that the government 
provide free education for secondary level students and a 
reduction of 20 percent in tuition at private schools. 
 
10.  On June 14, the local press reported that ANNISU-R had 
called off the educational strike in rural parts of the mid- 
western district of Surkhet.  Schools in that district 
reportedly reopened on June 13, following the announcements. 
 
MORE CIVILIANS KILLED 
--------------------- 
 
11.  The Maoist insurgency continues to claim civilian 
lives.  Armed rebels reportedly shot dead a civilian in the 
central district of Bara on June 14, and another in the 
western district of Rupandehi on June 10.  The rebels also 
reportedly killed two civilians after abducting them in the 
eastern district of Siraha on June 12.  On June 13, in the 
western district of Kapilbastu, two people were killed, 
including a child, and three others, two of whom were 
children, suffered injuries when the children started 
playing with a bomb left by the Maoists and it exploded.  On 
June 13, Maoists shot dead a teacher in Kathmandu.  A 
government official was also shot and wounded in the capital 
on June 10.  At least seven civilians reportedly were 
injured when a group of Maoists detonated a bomb in the 
residence of the district president of the Nepali Congress 
(Democratic) in the mid-western district of Dailekh on June 
10. 
 
INDISCRIMINATE BOMBINGS CONTINUE 
-------------------------------- 
 
12.  On June 12, a powerful bomb ripped through an American- 
owned carpet factory in Kathmandu (Ref B).  The factory was 
closed at the time and no injuries were reported.  However, 
the explosion blew off the roof, and shattered all the 
windows, causing over USD 5000 in damages.  (Note: There is 
no indication at this time that the factory was targeted 
because of American ownership.  End note).  On June 11, 
Maoists exploded a powerful bomb at a repeater tower of the 
Nepal Telecom Limited in the eastern district of Sunsari. 
Equipment worth USD 135,000 was damaged in the blast.  On 
the same day, the insurgents reportedly detonated a bomb at 
a seed production office in Sunsari district.  On June 9, 
the rebels reportedly detonated a powerful bomb inside the 
Land Conservation Office in the western district of Tanahu, 
causing damage to seven rooms of the building.  On June 13, 
Maoists also blasted the premises of Shiva Mandir VDC in 
Tanahu district causing damage to doors, windows, furniture 
and documents.  On June 14, Maoists torched two government 
vehicles in the western district of Nawalparasi. 
 
BOGUE