KATHMANDU: At least nine people were killed in Nepal yesterday when demonstrators attacked police with spears, knives, axes and scythes during a protest against proposals for administrative reform in the Himalayan country.
State television reported authorities had mobilised the army to quell the protests in the low-lying far west of the country close to the border with India.
Thousands of people were protesting in the town of Tikapur against a government-backed plan to include their area in a hilly province, part of a regional overhaul envisaged in a new federal constitution expected to be finalised this month.
Raj Kumar Shrestha, chief administrator of Kailali district, said protesters defied curfew and vandalised government buildings.
“Nine people are dead, including six police and three protesters,” he said adding protesters attacked the police with sharp-edged weapons.
Under the constitutional proposals due to be finalised this month, the district will form part of a hilly province in the far western parts of Nepal. Protesters are demanding a separate province comprising eight districts in the southwestern plains for themselves.
The government and major political parties hope the new constitution, which divides the nation into seven federal states, will boost economic development in Nepal.
REUTERS
