Nepal towns under fresh curfew after deadly clashes

Businessmen gather during a mass protest against Maoist activities, in Kathmandu March 20, 2007.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of riot police patrolled two border towns in southeast Nepal on Thursday to enforce curfews after bloody clashes between Maoists and an ethnic group left at least 26 people dead, police said.

The clashes on Wednesday between former Maoist rebels and the Madhesi People's Rights Forum in the border town of Gaur, 80 km (50 miles) south of Kathmandu, were the deadliest this year.

Both sides attacked each other with guns and bamboo sticks after a row over the selection of the same venue for public meetings, officials said.

"We have imposed a fresh day curfew to avoid more hazards and violence," Kuber Kadayat, a police official, said by telephone from Gaur.

"People are terrified and afraid about the possibilities of fresh trouble," he said.

Another official said a curfew was imposed on the neighboring Kalaiya town as well as a precautionary measure.

At least 57 people have now been killed in protests organized by Madhesi activists since January as they seek more government jobs and seats in parliament for their people, who live along the narrow strip of the Terai region bordering India.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said she was "deeply shocked" by the killings, which she stressed should not be allowed to jeopardize a peace process between the Maoists and the government to end a decade-long insurgency in which more than 13,000 people have died.

"I urge the authorities to take all necessary steps to initiate a full and impartial investigation into the killings and other violent incidents and to hold accountable anyone found to be responsible," she said in a statement released in Geneva.

BLOODSTAINS

Bipin Gautam, a human rights activist, said bloodstains, shoes and belongings left behind by the people had littered the dusty town after the clashes.

"It was like a battlefield," Gautam said of Wednesday's clashes. "People from both sides were chasing each other with batons and suddenly there was an exchange of gunfire," he said.

Maoists blamed supporters of Nepal's sidelined King Gyanendra for instigating trouble to derail the peace process. Most of those killed were Maoist supporters, Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

The Madhesi group said the Maoists started the trouble by scheduling a meeting at the same venue where it had planned a public rally.

Some analysts warned of the danger of communal riots.

"If the situation is not carefully handled it can further deteriorate (and turn) into a communal flare-up," commentator C.K. Lal said.

In the meantime, several business groups called off a crippling strike that had shut shops and industries for three days after the government guaranteed them security.

The strike was called against the kidnapping and beating of a hotel owner by the Maoists after he refused to pay them and offer free rooms.

(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis in Geneva)