Nepal police fire at demonstrators protesting draft constitution, killing 3 and wounding 12
Police in Nepal fired at demonstrators protesting a proposed constitution on Monday, killing at least three and wounding 12 others, an official said.
Police official Rajesh Lal Karna said officers were forced to open fire because hundreds of protesters had defied a curfew order and were attacking government buildings and private homes in the town of Surkhet in western Nepal.
The demonstrators were protesting a government-proposed clause in the draft constitution that would split the midwest region to create new states.
The constitution, which is in the process of being finalized in the Constituent Assembly, would create six federal states.
There have been a number of protests across the country this week against the proposal.
Police said security would be stepped up on Tuesday and it was still being decided whether the curfew would be extended.
Nepal has been governed under an interim constitution for seven years. A new constitution was supposed to be written by a Constituent Assembly elected in 2008, but it failed to finish the task, and another assembly elected in 2012 has also struggled because of disagreements among political parties.
SOURCE: AP
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