KATHMANDU - At least 45 people were wounded in ethnically-tense southern Nepal Wednesday in a bomb attack against a political rally aimed at promoting the countryÂ’s peace process, police said. The countryÂ’s mainstream political parties and former Maoist rebels had organised the rally as part of a joint campaign to prepare for landmark elections planned for April 10.
‘The toll has risen to 45 injured. Two critically injured people have been taken by helicopter to Kathmandu for treatment,’ Yogeshwor Rom Khami, superintendent of police in Birgunj, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Kathmandu, told AFP by telephone. ‘This might have been done by an armed and radical Mahadhesi group but we have not yet received any claims of responsibility,’ he said.
The town had been hit by several blasts ahead of the rally, with officials blaming ethnic Mahadhesi extremists who have vowed to derail the April polls unless the government agrees to grant the fertile plains region greater autonomy. |