At least 27 people were wounded when a bomb believed to have been planted by Maoist guerrillas exploded in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu as soldiers killed a dozen rebels across the Himalayan kingdom, police and officials said. A defence ministry statement said three soldiers and 24 civilians, including children, were wounded in the blast that occurred near a bridge in a residential area of Kathmandu during the morning rush hour.
"People were rushing to offices and school when it happened," said one witness.
There were fresh blood stains on the ground at the bridge near a market in the Bhimsensthan area though the bridge did not appear to have been damaged, the witness said.
Troops quickly cordoned the area off.
Bhimsensthan is an area not usually visited by tourists, who flock to Nepal for its temples, jungles and mountains, but the district overlooks the famous Swyambhunath temple, a Buddhist shrine on a hillock to the west of the city center.
A doctor at the city's Bir Hospital said 22 of the wounded had been brought to his hospital, some critical condition.
"Some of them have abdomen injuries and others have fractured limbs," he said.
Elsewhere, soldiers shot dead 12 rebels in separate gun battles over the past 24 hours, a defence ministry spokesman said.
Kathmandu has, in recent months, been hit by a string of small explosions blamed on Maoist insurgents waging a violent campaign to set up a one-party, communist republic in the poor nation.
About 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict since it began in 1996.
The rebels, who usually attack isolated security posts in the Himalayan foothills, abandoned a truce and escalated their campaign in November.
In response, the government declared a state of emergency and for the first time deployed the army to crush the insurgency.
Nepal, one of the world's 10 poorest countries, has appealed for international help to fight the guerrillas and last week its giant neighbor India promised to share intelligence and provide security forces with equipment and training.
The insurgency has hurt Nepal's tourism and further threatened the country's political stability rocked last June after popular King Birendra and other members of the royal family were slain by his son, Prince Dipendra, in a drunken shooting spree. Dipendra killed himself.