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Nepal

Nepal: Chronology of decade-long conflict

1996:

February 13: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launches people's war.

- In the following days, the Maoists carry out minor attacks on police posts in mid-western region. Then a soft-drink bottling factory owned by a multi-national company was attacked and a portion of the building torched in Kathmandu

- A liquor factory blown up in Gorkha district.

- Office of the Small Farmer's Development Programme of the state-owned Agricultural Development Bank in Chyangli VDC attacked.

- A landlord's house was raided at night cash and other properties worth 1.3 million rupees seized, and loan documents worth several million rupees reportedly destroyed in Kavre district.

- One each police outpost raided in Rolpa, Rukum and Sindhuli districts. The store of the outpost at Holeri in Rolpa seized. Athbiskot-Rari in Rukum was also raided. The Sindhuligadi police post in Sindhuli attacked.

1998

April: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala calls for talks, but Maoists turn down the offer.

2001

January: The government forms the Armed Police Force (APF) to fight against the insurgents.

June 1: King Birendra and his family members gown by allegedly by Crown Prince Dipendra who later shoots himself fatally. While undergoing treatment comatose Dipendra crowned King. After Dipendra's death, Gyanendra ascends to the throne.

July 26: PM Koirala resigns to be succeeded by another Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba.

July: 27: The government and the Maoists declare ceasefire for the first time.

August 3: The first round of peace talks start.

November 23: Peace talks collapse as the Maoists walk out of the table and carry out simultaneous attacks on police and army posts in 42 districts.

November 26: The government declares a nationwide state of emergency and deploys army against the rebels.

2002

The United States Congress approves US$12 million to train Royal Nepalese Army officers and supply 5,000 M-16 rifles.

May 11: RNA releases the photographs of Maoist leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Hishila Yami, Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal', in western Nepal.

May 22: Prime Minister Deuba dissolves parliament to thwart parliamentary opposition to the state of emergency and announces fresh elections.

July 11: Media reports disclose that Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal is given contract to provide 5,500 M249 'Minimi' rifles to the RNA.

October 4: King Gyanendra deposes Prime Minister Deuba and the Council of Ministers, assumes executive power, and cancels the elections to the dissolved House of Representatives, which had been scheduled for November 11.

October 11: King Gyanendra appoints Lokendra Bahadur Chand as new Prime Minister.

2003

January: The United States military officials conduct joint drill with the RNA.

January: Maoists gun down Armed Police Force Inspector General Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife Nudup and his bodyguard when they were on their morning walk near Jawalakhel, Lalitpur.

January 29: A second ceasefire announced and peace talks begin.

May 13: Government and the Maoists sign ceasefire code of conduct.

August 17: RNA kills 19 rebels and civilians in Doramba, Ramechhap district, when the talks process was on.

August 24: The Maoists threaten to withdraw the ceasefire if the government fails to agree on the demand for Constituent Assembly within 48 hours.

August 26: Maoist ultimatum expires.

August 27: The rebels call for a daylong strike to denounce the army attacks on their cadre in Doramba. The rebels unilaterally withdraw ceasefire. Prachanda in a statement reiterates his party's demand for end to monarchial rule and establish a people's republic. The statement read, "Since the old regime has put an end to the forward-looking solution to all existing problems through the ceasefire and peace talks, we herein declare that the rationale behind the ceasefire and peace process has ended."

September 27: Twelve Maoists die in a gunbattle with security forces at Chhita Pokhara in Khotang district. The Maoists kill two policemen, Purna Giri and Radha Krishna Rai, and civilian street vendor named Kala Chaudhary in the Jaljale-Gaighat area. The rebels bomb Road Department and the Nepal Electricity Authority and a telecommunications tower in early morning, disrupting telephone service and power.

October 13: At least 37 people die when an estimated 1,000 Maoists storm a police training centre in Bhaluwang.

November 19: Four people were caught at the Chinese Khasa border point on charges of smuggling weapons from Tibet into Nepal. Hirala Lal Shrestha and Gyaljen Sherpa were then taken for interrogation in the Tibetan town of Xigatse. The Tibetan court announces death sentence to Shrestha and life imprisonment to Sherpa.

2004

February 5: Security forces raid Bhimad village in Makwanpur district and 14 suspected Maoist activists and two civilians and summarily execute them.

February 10: India hands over two central committee members of Maoists Matrika Yadav and Suresh Alemagar, who were arrested in Lucknow, India, to the Nepal government.

February 15: Ganesh Chilwal, leader of Maoist victims association, shot dead in his Kathmandu office by two suspected Maoits.

February 15: Security forces encounter with Maoist guerillas in the jungle of Kalikot district where 1,000 guerillas were undergoing training.

February 17: A private helicopter carrying troops to Kalikot was hit by Maoist fire but returns safely to Kathmandu.

February 18: 65 were reportedly killed in the area, though the casualty remained sketchy. Lawmaker Khem Narayan Faujdar, a member of the parliament dissolved by King Gyanendra in 2002, shot dead by two suspected Maoists in the Nawalparasi district.

April 4: Maoists attack a police post in western Nepal, killing at least nine policemen at around 9 p.m. 35 police were reported missing with 9 dead, and 7 wounded. 8 to 9 rebels were reported dead. The fighting lasted for two to three hours.

April 5: A three day national strike called by the Maoists begins but it was opposed by an alliance of five political parties that were protesting against the monarchy in the capital. Prachanda then calls for joint movement.

August 16: Maoists carry out blast at the main gate of Soaltee Hotel for defying their call to close down the hotel.

September 10: A bomb goes off at the United States Information Service office in Kathmandu. No casualties.

September 13: U.S. Peace Corps suspends operations and non-essential U.S. Embassy personnel were evacuated.

December 15: Twenty security personnel die when the rebels raid Arghakhanchi district headquarters, Sandhikarkha.

December 16: Sixteen Maoists die in clashes with security forces in Dailekh district.

December 23: Maoists announce blockade in Kathmandu

2005

January 8: Maoists detain and later release 300 passengers from six buses for defying their blockade of Kathmandu.

January 10: Prime Minister Deuba announces to increase defense spending to fight the Maoists unless they come forward for talks with the government.

February 1: King Gyanendra dissolves parliament and enforces curb on independent media. Scores of senior political leaders, journalists, trade unionists, human rights activists and civil society leaders arrested in the following days. Government cuts telephone and internet connections

April 13: Sixty Maoists die during clashes in an attack on a security patrol at Dalphing in Rukum district.

April 19: Twenty-two insurgents and three soldiers die in clashes at Rankot and Ramja in Rolpa District.

May 15: At least 50 Maoists and two soldiers die during a clash at Jarayatar in the Sindhuli District.

June 6: More than 38 civilians killed and over 70 injured after a packed passenger bus runs over a rebel ambush in Bandermude in Chitwan district.

June 7: Fourteen security personnel, one civilian and six Maoists die in a clash when hundreds of heavily armed Maoists attack a security patrol at Masuriya jungle in Kailali District.

June 25: Twelve soldiers and six insurgents die during a Maoist attack on an army patrolling team at Khandaha in Arghakhanchi district.

July 3: Twelve insurgents die and two police personnel sustain injuries in a Maoist attack in Diktel, headquarters of the Khotang District.

August 7: The RNA recovers at least 40 bodies of its soldiers killed in a Maoist raid on the Pili base camp in Kalikot District. The Maoists also concede the death of 26 cadres in the clash.

August 9: Maoist rebels kill 40 security men in an attack in mid-western Nepal.

September 3: The CPN (Maoist) declares a three-month unilateral ceasefire in an attempt to forge ties with opposition political parties.

November 19: After negotiations, the Maoist rebels agree to work with opposition politicians as a common front against King Gyanendra's direct rule. 12-point agreement signed between the seven-party alliance and Maoists in New Delhi.

2006

January 2: Rebels end four-month unilateral ceasefire saying that the government had violated the ceasefire with numerous attacks.

February 8 - The royal government conducts municipal elections amidst widespread boycott

April 5: General strike begins along with Maoist blockades while the Maoists promise not to instigate violence.

April 6, 7: Protesters clash with police, hundreds arrested, dozens injured.

April 8: A curfew was imposed in Kathmandu from 10 p.m. to 9 am. The government led by King Gyanendra issues clamps shoot-on-site curfew in Kathmandu and several places around the country.

April 9: General strike nears end. The government extends curfew. Three protesters die during two days of unrest, as thousands of demonstrators defy curfews.

April: 24: King relinquishes power in the wake of a massive people's movement and reinstates House of Representatives.

April 27: Maoist insurgents, responding to a demand by the newly named prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala announce unilateral three-month truce.

April 30: Koirala sworn in as prime minister. He invites Maoists for talks.

June 16 - Prachanda arrives in Kathmandu and starts talks with Koirala and leaders of seven parties. The SPA and the Maoists sign an 8-point agreement. On the same day, Prachanda makes public his first appearance after 10 years.

July 4: Government and the Maoists invite the United Nations for management of arms and troops.

Nov 8: Top leaders of the seven parties and Prachanda sign a landmark deal on arms management and political issues like constituent assembly, interim government and interim parliament.

Nov 21: Prime Minister Koirala on behalf of the seven-party government and Prachanda sign a historic peace agreement that declares an end to the decade long people's war.