US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU592

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, Maoist Insurgency 
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