Maoist guerrillas bombed two police stations and a municipal office on the outskirts of Kathmandu Jan. 14, killing at least 11 officers in the first attacks in the capital region since the rebels ended their cease-fire on Jan. 2. Hours earlier, 16 guerillas and a government soldier were killed in a firefight in Syangja, a Maoist stronghold 140 miles west of Kathmandu. Two days earlier, 10 rebels were killed in the same area, the army said.

Naga separatist guerillas in India's remote northeast are once again being hunted down by the authorities in neighboring Burma (Myanmar), where they had previously been granted refuge. This appears to be leading to a two-front insurgency in which the Naga separatists are seeking an independent state straddling the current Burma-India border. On Jan. 10, Naga guerilla leaders claimed to have killed seven Burmese soldiers while losing three rebel fighters in a heavy gun battle in Burmese territory.

The gas pipeline to the Uch power plant in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan was blown up late Jan. 3, cutting off gas supplies to the plant. The attack came as sporadic rocket and artillery duels continued between Pakistani security forces and Baluch insurgents in the town of Dera Bugti.

In a surprising shift of strategy, Nepal's Maoist guerillas have reached a 12-point common agenda with the top parliamentary parties, subsequently endorsed by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. The new pact between the armed rebels and political opposition does not seek abolition of the monarchy, but envisages a limited monarchy where the king's powers are well-defined and constitutional. It calls for elections for a constituent assembly, prior to which Maoists will desist from violence and place their arms under the supervision of the UN or other international agency.

A powerful blast outside KFC fast-food franchise killed three people and wounded at least 15 others in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi early Nov. 15. The Baluchistan National Army, a separatist guerilla group in restive southwestern Baluchistan Province, claimed responsibility for the attack. But Pakistani officials deny the existence of the group. "We did it to protest, and we did it to pressure the government for our rights," a guerilla spokesperson, identified as Chakar Azam, told the AP. Pakistani officials dismissed the claim.

Well, India and Pakistan make a courageous and historic decision to open the militarized Line of Control that divides Kashmir in order to allow aid through to remote earthquake-stricken villages (Reuters, Oct. 29). What, putting aside sectarian and geo-political concerns in the interests of humanitarianism? We can't have that! Immediately before the announcement, bombs explode in a crowded market in Delhi... From the BBC:

Delhi on high alert after blasts
India's capital Delhi has been put on high alert after three explosions rocked the city killing at least 55 people and injuring many others. The government has called on people to stay indoors, and armed police have taken up positions outside key buildings and the main public areas.

Despite Indian aid to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in the wake of the devastating earthquake which has claimed some 25,000 lives, news reports indicate concerns persist in New Delhi about how the divided region's militant organizations are exploiting the disaster. An account in The Australian raises fears that such organizations are involved in the relief effort, and that "General Musharraf and his army would be too preoccupied with initially managing the enormity of the tragedy to worry about taking on militants."

An Aug. 18 Christian Science Monitor story, online at TruthOut, reports that some 300 small bombs exploded in cities across Bangladesh the previous day, killing one, wounding at least 100, and raising fears of a surge of Islamic militancy. The bombs mainly targeted government offices, bus and train stations, and markets in 63 of the country's 64 districts. No one formally claimed responsibility, but copies of a leaflet found at most of the sites carried a call by the group Jaamat-ul-Mujahideen for Islamic rule in Bangladesh.