Nepalese investigators have revealed that four of the five hijackers of the Indian Airbus flew in from Karachi and then entered the aircraft without going through any of the security checks. They simply walked across the airstrip and were checked into the air plane by a fifth hijackers who had a Nepalese passport (he was a Kashmiri, as were three of the others, the last man was an Afghani.) Four airport workers were arrested on suspicion of aiding the hijackers.
December 16; After several days of fighting, police destroyed a rebel training base 244 kilometers northwest of the capital. Eight rebels were killed. The rebel insurgency has been growing since 1996, when fewer than 200 Maoist (radical communist) rebels began operating. Although the nation has 49,000 police, the rebel force has now grown to 6,000 fighters and some 8,000 supporters. In the last three years, a thousand people have been killed in the fighting, and another two thousand wounded.
December 9; One person was killed and four wounded when police were attacked by a spear carrying crowd during an election dispute (involving a former communist legislator.)
December 8; A bomb went off in a house, apparently while the maker was preparing it for use. One was killed and another wounded. Communist politics is suspected. The communists are strong politically in Nepal, although the continuing Maoist rebellion is making the communist politicians look bad.
