Soldiers and police patrolled Nepal’s capital on Thursday as thousands of protesters from surrounding areas marched toward the city limits, where troops had orders to shoot on sight anyone breaking a curfew.
Demonstrators were marching toward Kathmandu from several directions, and thousands of people protested just outside the curfew area in the suburb of Gangabu, watched by a line of police and soldiers.
District administration officers said the 2am-to-8pm curfew was necessary to prevent opposition parties from holding a huge rally, planned for Thursday, to demand that King Gyanendra loosen his grip on power.
Residents in parts of central Kathmandu came out on to their roofs, whistling and banging plates. People used cellphones to call each other and send SMSs, trying to draw each other out for demonstrations.
”We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the nation because we are about to be killed, but we are not concerned about that. It is for the nation and without the nation there is no life,” said Sangam Poudel, a 22-year-old student.
Security forces had orders to shoot curfew violators on sight.
Diplomats, journalists and human rights monitors were not issued passes allowing them on to the streets as they were in the past. Police tried to keep media and rights workers away from any protests, escorting some foreign journalists back to their hotels.
Still, opposition leaders met on Thursday and decided to go ahead with the protest plans.
Krishna Sitaula, of the Nepali Congress party, said there would be rallies at Kathmandu’s major entry points, where protesters would try to break through police lines.
About 5 000 protesters rallied in Kirtipur, just south-west of Kathmandu, on Thursday morning, local resident Arun Giri said by telephone. There is no curfew in the farming suburb.
Two weeks of often violent protests and a general strike against palace rule have paralysed the Himalayan country, leaving cities short of food and fuel and Nepal at its most volatile since King Gyanendra seized power 14 months ago.
The royal government has responded harshly, claiming that communist insurgents — now allied with the opposition — have infiltrated rallies to instigate violence. Police have beaten, tear-gassed and arrested thousands of protesters.
Security forces have killed at least 10 people, including some pro-democracy protesters shot dead on Wednesday, since the opposition launched a general strike in the Himalayan kingdom on April 6.
Officials claimed security forces opened fire on Wednesday only after being shot at during an assault by brick-throwing protesters in Chandragadi, about 500km south-east of Kathmandu.
The government has made such claims in the past, but no shootings by protesters have been independently verified.
The region’s chief administrator, Bhola Siwakoti, said the demonstrators had defied a ban on protests and were looting.
There were conflicting reports of how many were killed on Wednesday. The defence ministry said two people died, another Nepali official put the toll at four, and a United Nations official said it was five. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the situation’s sensitivity.
”The events show how desperate the present royal regime is. It is becoming paranoid,” said Dhruba Adhikary, of the independent Nepal Press Institute. ”The movement is getting popular. It is expanding and growing.” — Sapa-AP
Associated Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya contributed to this report