One of the main reasons Nepal's King Gyanendra fired the elected government last week and put his own people in place was the government's failure to deal with a long-running communist insurgency. To celebrate the anniversary of the start of their campaign, Nepal's Maoist rebels called for a nationwide transit strike on Saturday. VOA's Patricia Nunan traveled out of the capital to the town of Khanikola, where she found that at least some traffic was still moving.
In the town of Khanikola, about 30 kilometers outside Kathmandu, soldiers man a checkpoint and inspect cars heading in and out of the city.
Military officials say they're also providing mine-proof vehicles to escort convoys of trucks deeper into the countryside, to counter the Maoist threat of a nationwide transport strike to coincide with their anniversary.
The Maoists, it appears, have been able to defy King Gyanendra's control of the media, by ordering the strike - possibly through word of mouth.
