Friday, February 23, 2007

More Maoist Combatants Leaving Cantonments In Nepal

More Maoist combatants in Nepal began walking out of their cantonment sites, accusing the government of not providing enough money for food, shelter and other essential goods.

Mohan Budhaayer, a correspondent of The Kathmandu Post, said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) combatants of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) left their temporary cantonment in Kailali, the far western district of Nepal, Thursday morning.

Budhaayer quoted the PLA Seventh Division Commander Prajwal and said, "At least 3,600 PLA combatants left the cantonment on Thursday."

The Division had, some 10 days ago, urged the Home Ministry to properly manage the cantonments and had also warned that they would walk out of the camps in case the government didn't heed their request.

Division Commander Prajwal also said the combatants will stay and find work at nearby villages. "The combatants will not return to the cantonment until the government meets their demands," Prajwal said.

Meanwhile, Binod Tripathi, another correspondent of The Kathmandu Post, said at least 3,000 Maoist PLA combatants under the Third Division, put at Shaktikhor cantonment in Chitwan, the eastern district of Nepal, left the cantonment Thursday morning.

Roughly 2,100 combatants had left the Shaktikhor cantonment on Wednesday.

The combatants have demanded Rs 600 million ($ 8.6 million) for the Third Division alone and they also warned that they would not return to the cantonment unless the government fulfills their demand.

Maoist First Division Commander Parwana on Thursday also said the Maoist combatants put in Chulachuli cantonment of Ilam, the far eastern district of Nepal, would walk out of their cantonment in three days if the government did not address their problems.

The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) on Wednesday had said the Maoist breached the agreement with the UN.