45 dead during three-day rebel strike

At least 45 people were killed and millions of dollars were lost in revenue during a three-day Maoist rebel strike across Nepal.

At least 45 people were killed and millions of dollars were lost in revenue during a three-day Maoist rebel strike across Nepal that ended, said officials and industrialists.

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In the latest fighting, at least eight Maoists and a soldier died in the western Kailali district in a gun-battle that broke out after rebels attacked troops defusing a landmine planted by the guerrillas, police said.

Thirty-one more Maoists and five troops were reported dead on the first two days of the strike, according to police and military officials.

The Maoists, who are fighting to overthrow the monarchy, ordered all shops shut and all traffic off the roads across the Himalayan state of 25 million people.

In the capital Kathmandu Thursday, rebels bombed a bus and a taxi that defied the strike, although no one was injured as passengers were allowed to get out first, police said.

Nepal's fragile economy loses more than 21 million dollars each day it is shut down by a strike, said Chandiraj Dhakal, senior vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Leaders of the tourism industry, which supports 1.25 million jobs in the land of Mount Everest, urged alternative forms of protest.

"Strike organisers should understand that everybody is the loser as more than 60 percent of reservations are cancelled by tourists each day of a strike," said Tek Bahadur Dangi, chief executive of the Nepal Tourism Board.

"Many tourists are gradually abandoning the country," he said.

However, trade unionists close to the Maoists have called another nationwide shutdown from June 10 to 12.

The rebels called this week's strike in part to show solidarity with opposition parties that have held more than a month of noisy demonstrations in Kathmandu against the monarchy.

More than 9,500 people have died in the eight-year insurgency.