A FIERCE ATTACK ON A TOWN BY MAOIST GUERRILLAS LEFT 15 PEOPLE DEAD IN NEPAL, HOURS BEFORE A GENERAL STRIKE OVER THE KING'S GRIP ON POWER SHUT DOWN THE HIMALAYAN NATION ON THURSDAY, AUTHORITIES SAID, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. THE LEFTIST REBELS, WHO HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR THE LAST DECADE TO TOPPLE THE MONARCHY, STRUCK MALANGWA, A TOWN 350 KM (220 MILES) SOUTHEAST OF KATHMANDU, LATE ON WEDNESDAY. THEY FIRED AT SOLDIERS GUARDING GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND SECURITY POSTS AND ATTACKED A JAIL, FREEING MORE THAN 100 INMATES -- AMONG THEM SOME OF THEIR COMRADES -- BEFORE FLEEING. FIVE POLICEMEN AND TWO GUERRILLAS WERE KILLED IN THE FIGHTING, LOCAL AUTHORITIES SAID. 'THE BODY OF A MAOIST IN COMBAT DRESS IS LYING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE,' YADAV SUBEDI, A MALANGWA RESIDENT, TOLD REUTERS BY PHONE. SOME POLICEMEN AND SENIOR BUREAUCRATS WERE MISSING AFTER THE FIGHTING, SUBEDI AND LOCAL JOURNALIST RAJESH MISHRA SAID. A RUSSIAN-BUILT MI-17 ARMY HELICOPTER SENT TO THE AREA WITH TROOPS CRASHED NEAR MALANGWA, KILLING EIGHT OF THE 10 SOLDIERS ON BOARD, AN ARMY OFFICER SAID. THE OTHER TWO MEN WERE MISSING. THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH WAS NOT KNOWN BUT ONE SECURITY SOURCE SAID A BOMB MAY HAVE ACCIDENTALLY EXPLODED ON BOARD. 'I SAW THE HELICOPTER BROKEN INTO THREE PIECES IN A FIELD. MANY GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS ARE ON FIRE OR ARE SMOULDERING. UNEXPLODED BOMBS ARE STREWN AROUND,' MISHRA SAID. 'PEOPLE ARE TERROR-STRUCK. NO ONE HAS COME OUT.' NEWS OF THE RAID CAME AS A FOUR-DAY NATIONWIDE STRIKE CALLED BY OPPONENTS OF KING GYANENDRA SHUT THE HINDU KINGDOM DOWN. NEPAL'S SEVEN MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES, WHICH CALLED THE STRIKE, HAVE VOWED TO DEFY A GOVERNMENT BAN ON PROTESTS TO LAUNCH WHAT THEY EXPECT TO BE A DECISIVE CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY.
