Maoists resume war with series of bomb attacks

Maoists rebels resumed their violent insurgency on Tuesday with a series of bomb blasts which brought an end to a four-month unilateral cease-fire. One blast erupted in the popular tourist town of Pokhara, 200 km northwest of Kathmandu, just hours after Maoist rebels called off their truce, raising fears of a resurgence of violence. No one was injured in the blasts in Pokhara, in central Nepal, or the western towns of Butwal and Bhairahawa shortly after the rebels' unilateral cease-fire ended at midnight on Monday. The Maoists have been waging nearly a decade-long armed campaign against the state that has left over 12,000 Nepalis dead at the hands of both rebels and the security forces. The targets appeared to be government buildings and there were no reports of casualties. But passers-by could easily have been injured, local people said. “There could have been many casualties if the road near where the bomb went off had been busy,” said a woman from Pokhara who lives near the city’s busy market place where the bombing took place. There are now fears among human rights groups the end of the truce will lead to a return to the insecurity and violent stalemate that has characterised the conflict in recent years. “The United Nations in Nepal is deeply concerned that the people of Nepal are again faced with the prospect of an escalation in fighting,” said a UN press statement. In its first official reaction to the end of the truce, Nepal's royalist government said it stood ready to protect the country. "It is unfortunate. The state is prepared for any eventuality," junior information minister Shris Shumsher Rana told Reuters. "We are ever vigilant." The explosions raised fears of a major resumption of violence across the troubled Himalayan kingdom if the rebels step up their attacks. The Maoists first declared a three-month truce in September, but later extended it for another month under popular pressure. On Monday, Prachanda, the elusive rebel leader, said the cease-fire would not be prolonged further and accused government troops of provoking his forces to break it.