KATHMANDU: Nepal's former Maoist rebels, waving hammer-and-sickle flags, blocked roads to the capital on Tuesday in protest at the reinstatement of the army chief, the first time they have taken such action since the end of the civil war three years ago.

The Maoist-led government fired the army chief, General Rookmangud Kawatal, in May saying he had refused to take orders. But the move was reversed by the president, prompting the Maoists to quit the government and plunging the country into crisis.

Maoist activists danced on the roads, or sat in front of vehicles, in a protest that may damage the tourism-dependent economy and has raised fears about Nepal's fragile peace.

Supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the former rebels, gathered on the highways connecting Katmandu with the rest of the Himalayan nation.

At the Thankot checkpoint, the main entrance to Katmandu, hundreds of Maoist supporters held banners and their party's red flag, stopping vehicles and chanting slogans.

Binod Singh, traffic police chief in Katmandu, said the highways were shut down by the protests but that there were no reports of violence.

The airport was open and flights were operating in and out of Katmandu. The Maoists had initially planned to shut down the nation's only international airport, but withdrew their plan following pressure from Western diplomats.

Nepal became a republic last year after abolishing the 239-year-old monarchy under a 2006 deal with the Maoists.

'The president should apologise for his decision or the prime minister can make a statement in the parliament saying the move by the president was wrong,' Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma said.

The Maoists, who waged a decade-long conflict against the monarchy from 1996, regularly blocked all roads to hill-ringed Kathmandu to stop supplies of essential goods during the war. –Agencies