KATHMANDU, Nepal: Officials say police in southern Nepal have opened fire on members of an ethnic group demanding a new state in a draft constitution, killing five people in two separate towns.
Police official Kamal Singh Bam said Tuesday that protesters in Birgunj town were violating a curfew order and attempting to attack the police station when officers opened fire, killing four. Another protester was killed in Kalaiya town.
The ethnic Madhesi protesters want a state named after their group in the area where they live.
There have been a number of recent protests, some violent, by various groups demanding statehood in the draft constitution, which proposes that Nepal be split into at least seven federal states.