Bomb attack in Bhutan ahead of first polls: police
GUWAHATI, India (AFP) — A powerful explosion rocked the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the latest in a string of blasts ahead of landmark elections next month, a police spokesman said.
The suspected bomb blast occurred in a village in the remote Samste district, but caused no casualties. Police said they suspected communist rebels were responsible, believed to be operating from nearby Nepal.
Two other bombs were recovered and defused near the blast site, and police said they had detained a 17-year-old student found with hand grenades.
"There were no casualties in the blast," the Bhutanese police official told AFP by telephone from capital Thimpu, asking not to be named.
"Investigating officials recovered leaflets of the Communist Party of Bhutan, based in Nepal, from the scene, threatening to stop the national assembly election."
Bhutan is preparing to shift to democracy by holding its first national assembly elections on March 24 after a century of absolute monarchy.
A number of blasts late last month in the capital and three remote districts wounded one person and damaged shops and businesses.
Bhutanese police also attributed the earlier blasts to militant groups based in Nepal.
Bhutan witnessed pro-democracy agitation in the 1990s, with a section of Nepali-speaking residents in the country's southern areas rising in revolt against the monarchy.
An ensuing crackdown, as well as cultural reforms encouraging the use of Bhutan's language and national dress, forced tens of thousands of Nepali-speaking people from southern Bhutan to flee to Nepal.
