US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU2152

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002152 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NP, PGOV, PTER, PHUM, CASC, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, NOV 2-14 
 
REF: Kathmandu 2148 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
1. Maoist bombs claimed the lives of at least two children 
during the last two weeks, adding to the more than 100 
children reported killed by the ongoing violence.  Among 
other incidents taking place during the same period, 50 
Village Development Committee offices and at least 20 post 
offices were destroyed; civilians as well as soldiers were 
killed and injured in petrol bomb and mine attacks on 
passenger buses and other vehicles; offices of a project in 
the Annapurna Conservation Area were looted and demolished; 
and the King Mahendra Conservation Trust was bombed for the 
second time. A small explosive device was also detonated in 
the toilet of the popular Tiger Mountain travel agency. 
 
2. Additional violence continued throughout the nationwide 
strike from November 11-13 (reftel), and Maoist leadership 
has called for another "concrete program of agitation," with 
dates and details to be announced. End summary. 
 
MAOIST VIOLENCE STRIKES CHILDREN 
--------------------------------- 
 
3. A 12-year-old mentally disabled boy died instantly and 
three others were seriously injured by a bomb in Banepa 
Municipality, approximately 30 miles southeast of Kathmandu. 
The boy was walking past a garbage heap when a bomb planted 
there by Maoists exploded.  In a similar incident, a 14-year- 
old boy was killed and a 10-year-old boy and their guardian 
were seriously injured in an explosion as they walked to 
school in western Doti district on November 13.  The boys 
and their guardian were traveling by foot because of the 
general strike called by the insurgents, and were injured 
when a Maoist bomb detonated near the road. 
 
4. Nepali human rights watch group INSEC estimates that more 
than 100 children have been killed since the start of the 
Maoist insurgency.  According to INSEC, 62 children (38 boys 
and 24 girls) have been killed by government forces, while 
Maoists have killed 44 children (30 boys and 14 girls). 
 
REBELS DESTROY VDC OFFICES 
--------------------------- 
 
5. Maoist insurgents destroyed 25 Village Development 
Committee (VDC) offices in central Gulmi district during the 
weekend of November 2-3 and attacked two dozen VDCs in 
Kapilbastu district on November 7, burning buildings, 
records and documents. Local officials called the attack in 
Kapilbastu, which borders India, the most extensive 
operation ever launched in the district by the Maoists. The 
Ministry of Local Development has reported that insurgents 
have destroyed more than 1,300 VDC offices nationwide, 
nearly one-third of all VDCs in Nepal.  The Ministry 
estimates that total losses from the attacks, which also 
target health posts and other government-owned 
installations, amount to nearly 284 million rupees (3.6 
million USD). 
 
POSTAL WORKER KILLED; 
MAIL SERVICE PARALYZED 
----------------------- 
 
6. One postman was beheaded and another severely beaten by 
Maoists on November 9, on suspicion of providing information 
to government forces in central Makwanpur district.  Maoist 
attacks on post offices have left many remote villages, 
already without telephone connections, cut off from 
communication with the rest of the country.  Postal workers 
fear attack if they venture into remote areas to deliver 
mail.  According to the Department of Postal Service (DPS), 
a majority of local post offices in Nepal's hilly and 
mountainous regions have either been destroyed by Maoists or 
moved to district headquarters. 
 
7. Though the impact of the insurgency on postal service in 
the Terai has been called "negligible" by DPS officials, 
Maoists reportedly have destroyed 20 post offices in 
southern Dang district in the last year as part of their 
campaign to disrupt government infrastructure in the 
district, which borders India.  The insurgents have 
destroyed 439 post offices in total, with the mid-eastern 
development region the most affected.  Damage has been 
estimated at 17.1 million rupees (218,000 USD). 
 
MAOISTS DESTROY CROWDED BUS, MINE HIGHWAYS AND 
LOOT PASSENGERS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
8. A bus conductor and a passenger were killed and 14 others 
injured when Maoists attacked a bus crowded with holiday 
passengers in southern Sarlahi district on November 4.  The 
bus caught fire, skidded 100 meters and flipped onto its 
roof after Maoists hurled petrol bombs at the front of the 
vehicle. Two days earlier, Maoists in Bara district looted 
three busloads of passengers and a truck.  According to 
local police, Maoists erected a barricade across a highway, 
forcing the vehicles to stop.  Passengers and staff were 
taken into the surrounding forest and robbed of their 
belongings and cash.  The truck was looted of 270,000 rupees 
(3500 USD) worth of goods.  Local police report that this is 
the first case of coordinated robbery of several vehicles in 
one night by Maoists in the southern district. On November 
10, passengers were ordered out of a bus on its way from 
Kathmandu to Biratnagar before Maoists set the vehicle and 
passenger belongings ablaze. 
 
9. At least one person was killed and 20 others injured when 
their passenger bus detonated a Maoist landmine in 
northeastern Dolakha district on November 14.  Two persons 
were killed instantly when their private van drove over a 
mine planted by the Maoists near Birgunj along the Indian 
border on November 9.  In both incidents, authorities have 
speculated that the mine was intended for security forces. 
Three soldiers were injured when their truck detonated a 
mine planted by Maoists on the Pasang Lhamu Highway in 
central Nuwakot district. 
 
KING MAHENDRA TRUST AND ACAP OFFICES ATTACKED 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
10. On November 1, the King Mahendra Trust for Nature 
Conservation was bombed for the second time, injuring one 
person and causing minor damage to the Kathmandu office. 
The Trust is chaired by Crown Prince Paras. 
 
11. On November 8, Maoists looted and destroyed the offices 
of an Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) in 
Ghandruk, situated on the route to the Annapurna Base Camp. 
The ACAP office was approached by 40-50 Maoists, who looted 
the building of computers and other electronic equipment 
before burning it to the ground.  ACAP, which is a 
subsidiary of KMTNC, is chiefly concerned with the 
conservation of culture and national heritage. 
 
SMALL BOMB EXPLODES IN TIGER MOUNTAIN TOILET 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
12. A suspected Maoist detonated a small bomb in the toilet 
of the Tiger Mountain travel agency in Kathmandu on November 
10, causing minimal damage. No one was injured in the blast. 
Tiger Mountain CEO Kristjan Edwards said that the suspected 
Maoist posed as a customer and made bookings for 12 Italian 
tourists before placing the bomb in the toilet. 
 
MAOISTS CALL FOR MORE VIOLENCE 
------------------------------- 
 
13.  Terming the November 11-13 nationwide strike "a success 
with the continuous support of the public," Maoist 
leadership issued a press statement appealing to political 
parties for a round-table conference and lambasting the 
Palace.  The statement further proclaims that "protest 
programs will be continued" until the Maoists' demands are 
met, and that a "concrete program of agitation will soon be 
declared and publicized." 
 
MALINOWKSI