Dozens injured in Nepal clashes

Thousands have defied the curfew in Nepalese cities

Dozens of people have been injured in fresh clashes with police in Nepal as anti-monarchy protesters continued defying curfew orders.

Police opened fire on protesters in the resort town of Pokhara. Doctors say live rounds were used in the capital.

The security forces have also launched raids in houses in Kathmandu. They say they are looking for Maoist rebels.

The violence comes hours after the US strongly criticised King Gyanendra and called on him to restore democracy.

It is time the King recognizes that this is the best way to deal with the Maoist insurgency and to return peace and prosperity to Nepal US state department Unrest in pictures Have your say

Meanwhile, the BBC has learnt that there are serious disagreements within the government over how to deal with the protests.

A highly-placed source in the Nepalese cabinet told the BBC that some 40% of the cabinet wanted to be reconciled with the political parties currently opposing the king.

However both the Maoist rebels and opposition political parties have said they will intensify their campaigns.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says confusion over the length of day and night-time curfews in the capital suggests the authorities are planning on an hour-by-hour basis.

Raids

Reports say the Red Cross is treating at least 50 people with injuries after clashes in a Kathmandu suburb which has seen consistent violence over the past few days.

A doctor in Kathmandu told the BBC he had treated three people with gunshot wounds from live ammunition, two of them children.

Police also used tear gas and rubber bullets to push back stone-throwing protesters.

"I saw one running man get hit and collapse," a local resident, Jagat Basnet, is quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

In Pokhara, police opened fire on thousands of demonstrators, injuring two women who were not part of the rally.

Separately, so-called "security searches" have been launched in Kathmandu because the authorities say they have information that Maoist rebels have been infiltrating the city.

"The government has reliable information that the terrorists have entered the Kathmandu valley," state-run Nepal Television reported.

US criticism

International pressure on the Nepal government is also growing.

The US state department said there had been a rise in insecurity in Nepal since the king imposed direct rule last year.

"The king's continuing failure to bring the parties back into a process to restore democracy has compounded the problem," it said in a statement on Monday.

Hundreds of opposition figures and activists have been arrested since Friday, according to police officials.

The king took power 14 months ago, accusing political parties of failing to quell a Maoist insurgency.

The seven main political parties said on Sunday they were extending the strike indefinitely.

Three deaths were confirmed at the weekend:

• In Banepa, a town to the east of the capital, one man was shot dead as protesters clashed with police on Sunday

• In Bharatpur, a woman was apparently shot by police on Saturday while sitting on her balcony near the scene of a mass protest

• A man was shot dead on Saturday in the resort town of Pokhara during mass protests.