Kathmandu (AsiaNews) Tensions remain high in the Nepal following the controversial February 8 municipal elections which were heavily boycotted by opposition parties and Maoist rebels. In the last 24 hours, rebel attacks against the Nepalese Royal Army have been stepped up. Last night, an army convoy was ambushed in the southern district of Nawalprasi, killing scores of soldiers. An eyewitness told AsiaNews that army reinforcements counted 35 bodies but the information could not be confirmed. In another clash over night, soldiers shot and killed two Maoist rebels near Pokhara.
Meanwhile the country is still in the grip of fear two days after opposition parties and rebels called off a general strike. But even if rebels ended the strike to appease public opinion, few Nepalese are venturing into the streets and children still have not gone back to school, this according to Ramlekbal Choudhary, a Nepalese human rights activist.
Similarly, few vehicles dare taking to the mountain kingdom's main highways.
Fr Thomas Thalachira, a Catholic priest who heads the 'Little Flower' school in an eastern district of the country, said "there are few pupils today. Parents are scared and would rather keep them at home" than send them to school.
Since 1996 Nepal has become the scene of large-scale violence after a Maoist rebellion broke out. So far 13,000 people have died in the violence.
For the Royalist government, the recently-held local elections are a first step towards the restoration of democracy in the kingdom. Its leaders have pledged holding parliamentary elections in April 2007.
In February of last year, the current monarch, King Gyanendra, fired his democratically-elected government, dissolved parliament and took over the reins of power.