KATHMANDU, Sept 27: Another 15 people were killed on Saturday in surging violence across Nepal a day after the rebels announced a nine-day ceasefire from Oct 2 during the country’s biggest festival.

Twelve Maoists were killed in a gunbattle with security forces at Chhita Pokhara, in the Khotang district, 340kms east of Kathmandu, a police official said.

Elsewhere in eastern Nepal, Maoists opened fire outside a bus where police were checking passengers’ identities, killing two policemen and a female street vendor, said Sita Ram Pokharel, the chief administrator for the Jaljale-Gaighat area.

The rebels also bombed five public utilities in the southeastern industrial hub Janakpur, disrupting telephone service and power and prompting an elderly man’s death from a heart attack, police inspector Bharat Khadka said.

Maoist supremo Prachanda had on Friday said the Maoists would “adjourn all our aggressive activities” from Oct 2 to 10 as residents flock to their home villages to celebrate the post-monsoon festival, Dasain.

But the Maoists, who ended a ceasefire on Aug 27 after seven months, warned it would end the temporary truce if the army used the occasion to attack the rebels.

Information Minister Kamal Thapa, the government spokesman, would not say if security forces would also observe a holiday ceasefire.

“The government has never declared a war. Whatever the government has done is to contain the violence,” Mr Thapa told reporters.

“We welcome the ceasefire,” he added.

Finance Minister Prakash Chandra Lohani said the Maoists should try to relaunch negotiations during Dasain, which celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the forces of evil.

“What the government wants is a permanent ceasefire again,” said Lohani, who with Thapa led the team that unsuccessfully negotiated with the Maoists this year.

“In the last round of talks we told the Maoists that even if they had differences they should honour the ceasefire, but they abruptly ended it. Now is a time to work again for a permanent solution,” Lohani said.

The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to overthrow the monarchy and establish a communist state. Since the end of the truce at least 280 people have died in renewed fighting, according to government figures.

The tolls from most incidents are impossible to verify independently as they take place in isolated rural areas.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, the consensus prime ministerial candidate of the mainstream parties — which do not recognize the royal-appointed government — said both the Maoists and the government needed to show more commitment to peace.

“Both the government and the Maoists need to observe a permanent, long-term ceasefire,” Mr Nepal said.

“We welcome the Maoists’ ceasefire, but it is only temporary. They haven’t succeeded in creating an atmosphere of trust,” he added. “They should have stated very clearly that they’re not going to attack innocent people or the general public.”

Prachanda in his statement said the Maoists were ready for a permanent ceasefire if the government agreed to set up a special assembly to redraft the constitution. The rebel demand was the key dispute that scuttled the last negotiations on August 19 after three days.—AFP