US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU1371

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001371 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, ASEC, PHUM, PREL, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: LARGE GROUP OF NEPALI MAOISTS ATTACK VILLAGE, 
SINGLING OUT VICTIMS 
 
REF: A. KATHMANDU 1198 
     B. KATHMANDU 1053 
     C. KATHMANDU 915 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski, Reasons 1.5(b),(d) 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Several hundred Maoists attacked a village 
near western Nepal's largest city July 10, killing two 
mainstream party workers apparently in retaliation for 
cooperating with security forces.  The attackers also 
brutalized other villagers and warned family members of the 
victims not to hold funeral rites.  The Maoists had not 
engaged in large-scale operations since June 15, the date 
marking the beginning of a month-long unilateral cease-fire 
called--and later retracted--by Maoist leader Prachanda. 
During this time, however, the insurgents continued to kidnap 
and execute soldiers and government workers, as well as 
individual civilians such as teachers.  In the period since 
they repulsed a major Maoist offensive on May 27, security 
forces seem increasingly to have the upper hand.  End Summary. 
 
Maoist Mob Raids Village, Killing Two... 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Hundreds of Maoists regulars raided a village near 
Nepalgunj in the western lowlands on July 10, killing two and 
injuring seven others, police sources relate.  Between three 
and four hundred Maoists reportedly entered the village of 
Samshergunj, about seven kilometers northwest of Nepalgunj, 
about 9 p.m.  They dragged two men from their houses and 
summarily executed them.  The men were activists for the 
leftist Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist 
(CPN-UML) and rightist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), 
respectively.  The insurgents also destroyed houses in the 
village.  Police believe the attack came in revenge for a 
June incident where two Maoists were apprehended by villagers 
and turned over to authorities. 
 
Beating and Threatening Others 
------------------------------ 
 
3. (C) The Chief District Officer (CDO) for Banke district 
related that the two men killed July 10 had been beaten 
before they were shot.  According to press reports, funerals 
for the two men could not be held on time because Maoists 
threatened the families with violence if they proceeded with 
the last rites.  The CDO also noted that during the raid 
other villagers had had their legs broken with iron rods. 
 
4. (SBU) Representatives of the Human Rights Organization of 
Nepal (HURON) told us that they planned to send a team to the 
village July 14 to investigate. 
 
First Large-Scale Maoist Attack in Month 
---------------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The July 10 incident was the Maoists' first 
large-scale offensive military operation since its 
opportunistic encounter with a bivouaced Royal Nepalese Army 
(RNA) company June 12 (Ref A).  (Note:  In another, similar 
encounter in late June, Maoists ran into a joint security 
patrol in remote eastern Dhankuta district and killed one 
policeman.  End Note.)  In a May announcement which was later 
disavowed, Maoist leader Prachanda indicated that the Maoists 
would unilaterally declare a cease-fire during the Nepali 
month of Asadh, which began June 15 (Ref C).  July 10 was the 
twenty-sixth day of the twenty-nine day month.  The only 
other major incident during Asadh was the July 5 bombing of 
the Prime Minister's party office in Kathmandu (Ref 1315). 
 
Abductions, Killings Continue 
----------------------------- 
 
6. (C) During the past month the Maoists have not launched 
attacks against the security forces' fixed positions. 
However, during this period Maoists have conducted numerous 
raids like the July 10 Nepalgunj incident.  In such raids at 
least four RNA soldiers have been abducted from their homes 
and later killed.  On other occasions the insurgents have 
used this tactic against civilians as well, taking school 
principals, teachers, farmers, party workers, postmen and kin 
of military or police officers from their homes and killing 
them.  Most of these incidents involved only small groups of 
Maoists, however, and not two or three hundred as reportedly 
were involved in the July 10 incident. 
A Likely Anomoly 
---------------- 
 
7. (C) It remains unclear whether recent events reflect a 
change in the Maoists' tactics, a de facto unilateral 
cease-fire, an expedient reaction to the increased 
effectiveness of the security forces, or a combination of all 
of the above.  The previous lull dated from May 27, when the 
army repulsed a large-scale Maoist attack on security forces 
in Rukum (Ref B).  Indications are that the RNA has become 
both more sophisticated and more confident in recent weeks, 
and the insurgents have been weakened as a result.  Except as 
another example of the Maoists' continued efforts to instill 
fear in their countrymen, the July 10 attack, only a few 
miles from a major RNA installation in Nepalgunj, seems 
vindictively anomalous. 
MALINOWSKI