A week of violence as cease-fire fades

With the end of the Maoist unilateral cease-fire on Monday, Nepal has witnessed days of violence. Three policemen have been killed in fighting with rebels in southwestern Nepal, authorities said on Thursday. Two other officers were hurt in the rebel attack on a police post in the key border town of Nepalganj. Two policemen and a civilian were injured when the Maoists attacked a police post at Chaman Chowk in Mahendranagar, about 500 km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu in far west Nepal, the Kathmandu Post reported. Violence has risen since the rebels ended their truce, accusing the army of attacks. A number of small bombs have gone off since then and on Wednesday the rebels clashed with soldiers in the west. On Thursday, five civilians were injured in Biratnagar, 250 km southeast of the capital, in a suspected rebel bomb blast at a government office. In a statement received in Kathmandu on Friday, the European Union (EU) said it regrets the end of the unilateral ceasefire and expressed disappointment over the government's refusal to reciprocate. The EU urged both parties to immediately end hostilities and start a dialogue to peacefully resolve the decade-long conflict. On Tuesday the United Nations said it was "deeply concerned" at the prospect of escalating hostilities in the Himalayan kingdom. A UN statement regretted that repeated appeals for the rebels to extend the cease-fire, and the government to reciprocate, had gone unheeded. King Gyanendra, who seized absolute power in February 2005, has vowed to crush the rebels. More than 12,000 people have died in the decade since the Maoists began their armed struggle to replace the monarchy with a communist republic. During the four months of the rebel cease-fire the number of people killed declined significantly, Nepali human rights groups have said.