US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU410

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000410 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PHUM, PREL, PINR, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NATIONWIDE STRIKE BRINGS SCATTERED VIOLENCE, 
INSURGENTS ATTACK REMOTE POLICE POST 
 
REFS: A) KATHMANDU 380, B) 01 KATHMANDU 2388 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  Insurgents attacked a remote police 
post in Salyan district, killing 34 policemen, on the eve 
of a strike called by the Maoists for February 22 and 23. 
Scattered bombings were reported throughout the country in 
the run-up to the strike, including a fatal incident along 
a major road in Kathmandu early on February 22.  As the 
strike began, businesses remained closed and 
transportation throughout the country came to a halt. 
Although the government has public sentiment on its side 
in the struggle against the Maoists, a worsening resource 
crunch prevents an effective response to the insurgency's 
guerrilla tactics.  Suggested press guidance follows 
paragraph 6.  End Summary. 
 
On Eve of Strike, Maoists Attack Police... 
------------------------------------------ 
 
2. (SBU) Maoist insurgents called a nationwide strike for 
February 22 and 23, the first such attempted action since 
December 7 (Ref B).  In contrast to the uneventful 
December action, the number of bombings and violent 
attacks reported throughout the country have increased in 
the run-up to the February strike.  At 11:00 p.m. February 
21, Maoists launched an attack on a remote police post in 
Sitalpati, Salyan District, approximately 300 miles west 
of Kathmandu.  According to Salyan's Chief District 
Officer (CDO), 34 of the 80 police officers stationed at 
the post were killed in the hour-and-a-half long siege. 
An undetermined number of insurgents were also killed, 
their bodies taken away by their comrades.  The CDO also 
reported that groups of Maoists had gathered on the 
outskirts of the district capital, intending to attack it, 
but had fled at the sight of two army helicopters 
dispatched to the area. 
 
And Scatter Bombs 
----------------- 
 
3. (SBU) On the morning of February 21 security forces 
shot and killed a Maoist insurgent who was attempting to 
hang a "banner bomb" on a pole in the capital.  During the 
day at least five other bombs went off around the 
Kathmandu Valley and a car belonging to an army pilot was 
firebombed.  In other areas of Nepal scattered incidents 
of violence were also reported, including the firebombing 
of a long-distance bus in Chitwan District that took the 
lives of five passengers. 
 
4. (SBU) A few minutes past nine on the morning of 
February 22 a bomb went off in a garbage pile near a 
telecommunications office in the Chabahil neighborhood of 
Kathmandu.  Police confirmed that one woman, a garbage 
collector, was killed.  Minutes later a second bomb 
reportedly went off in the same location. 
 
Maoist Threat Closes Nepal 
-------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) Shops on the capital's main streets stayed closed 
February 22 and most public conveyances remained garaged. 
Armed police and military personnel were out in force.  A 
few private motorists ventured out, their license plates 
obscured behind plain white paper.  In Thamel, the tourist 
district, travelers waited in vain for taxicabs or 
wandered aimlessly among the shuttered storefronts as 
soldiers passed by in jeeps mounted with machine guns. 
One major hotel seized on the lack of traffic to scrub 
down its empty parking lot.  Sources in small cities 
throughout Nepal's plains and hill districts reported 
similar conditions, with few shop owners daring to open 
for trade and most motorized vehicles sitting idle.  The 
head of a local beverage concern reported that earlier in 
the week truck drivers had refused to make long-distance 
hauls for fear of the impending strike. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6. (SBU) The violence leading up to the nationwide strike 
came while the Parliament debated on and then extended the 
state of emergency for another three months (Septel), and 
no doubt strengthened the hand of those who wanted the 
extension.  The Maoists will not make any new converts by 
threatening more violence and strangling Nepal's already 
lagging economy - most Nepalis expressed frustration mixed 
with anger when asked about the effects of the strike. 
The recent brutal attacks in Achham District (Ref A) have 
instilled a very real sense of fear among ordinary 
Nepalis, even here in the Kathmandu Valley.  Although the 
government now has a mandate to continue the emergency, 
the increasing strain on the state's resources means it 
will continue to have difficulty countering the 
insurgents' guerrilla campaign. 
 
Suggested Press Guidance 
------------------------ 
 
7. Begin Suggested Press Guidance: 
The Government of the United States denounces the acts of 
violence and terror perpetrated by Maoist insurgents in 
the run-up to the national strike called for February 22 
and 23, including the attack in Salyan District during the 
night of February 21 that took the lives of 34 police 
officers.  A series of explosions in and around Kathmandu 
have resulted in at least one death.  We extend our 
condolences to the families of the victims of this 
senseless bloodshed. 
 
Strikes or "bandhs" such as the one called by the Maoists 
for February 22 and 23 are enforced by the threat of 
violence.  We reiterate our support for the right of the 
Government of Nepal to safeguard its citizens, as provided 
for under the Constitution.  In a democracy there is no 
room to achieve political objectives through violence. 
 
Once more we urge the Maoists to lay down their arms 
immediately and to engage in the peaceful pursuit of their 
aims within the democratic framework of Nepal's 
Constitution. 
 
End Suggested Press Guidance. 
 
MALINOWSKI