1 May 2020 I Four unsuspecting innocents have fallen victim to Nepal’s blood-stained political history that claimed an estimated 16,000 lives between 1996 and 2006.
Four children in remote western Nepal district of Rolpa reportedly found the bomb in a forest and carried it to their Duwagaun village. According to some Nepalese news websites as well as social media posts, the 2-inch mortar shell exploded when the children became inquisitive and interfered with the unexploded device.
The deceased, aged between 7 and 14, were in the local forest herding goats.
Local police suspect the bomb was left behind by the Maoist guerrillas at some point during the civil war.
Rolpa was a major stronghold of the Maoist rebels during the protracted civil war. It started with the launch of several simultaneous attacks on the government forces on 13 February 1996.