At least seven people were wounded after a series of explosions ripped through a commercial town in southern Nepal, official reports said Thursday, according to dpa. At least four bombs went off Wednesday night in the town of Birgunj, about 60 kilometres south of Kathmandu, the state-owned Gorkhapatra newspaper reported. All the bombs went off minutes apart in the city centre, wounding seven, two seriously. The newspaper quoted police as saying they had sealed off the border crossing into India and heightened security in the city to prevent attackers from escaping, adding, however, that they did not know who had carried out the bombings or the motive behind the blasts. Southern Nepal has seen several bombings in recent months. The region has been at the centre of violence since January with several groups trying to assert their influence there. Among them has been the Madhesi People's Rights Forum, representing the ethnic Madhesi community, which has long claimed discrimination from Nepal's hill people. The forum spearheaded protests that turned violent in January and February during clashes with security forces and a rival Maoist political group. At least 65 people have died in the simmering violence in the southern Nepalese plains, known as Terai, since the beginning of the year. Several attempts by the government to bring the agitating groups for negotiations have so far failed.
