FOREIGN
DESK |
December 9, 2004, Thursday
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By DAVID ROHDE (NYT) 1505
words
Late Edition - Final ,
Section A , Page 1 , Column 2
ABSTRACT -
Nepal's eight-year war with Maoist guerrillas is ensnaring country's children,
with tens of thousands under age 18 estimated killed or abducted and forced into
indoctrination camps; execution of 18-year-old Reena Rasaili in one village
described; that killing was apparently by government soldiers, but parents
elsewhere dread waking to find shoe hanging outside home, sign that guerrillas
are demanding young recruit as part of recent 'strategic offensive'; thousands
of families are sending children to monasteries in India; photos; map; rights
groups says Maoists have abducted at least 8,000 children, often from schools;
also note reports that Nepalese army is using children as spies and messengers,
which authorities deny; attacks have forced government to withdraw police from
about two-thirds of country, leaving Maoists and army patrols free to prey on
isolated villages (M)