KATHMANDU, April 26: Soldiers shot dead six people on Wednesday and wounded three others after firing on a crowd of protesters outside an army camp in eastern Nepal. The soldiers shot the demonstrators after they had gathered and fired two shots to protest the death of a woman who was killed by troops in an ‘ambush’ after reported ‘suspicious activities’ near the camp on Tuesday evening, an official said.

“For self-defence they opened fire and killed six people and injured three others,” said the official.

A rights activist said some 2,000 people had gathered at the base after rumours spread that the woman had been raped and killed by a soldier.

Security forces opened fire at the camp in the town of Belbari, 590 kilometres southeast of Kathmandu, said Kundan Aryal, general secretary of Informal Sector Service Centre, a Nepalese rights group.—AFP