At least six persons traveling in a passenger bus were killed and eight others were injured in an explosion while trying to remove barriers erected by Maoist insurgents at Surai Naka section of the Mahendra highway at the border of Kapilvastu and Dang districts Saturday.

The bus was heading from Kathmandu to Dang. Seven out of the eight passengers, who are in a critical condition, are being taken to Kathmandu by an army helicopter for treatment, sources at the Royal Nepalese Army headquarters told Nepalnews.

Security forces have been sent to the area for rescue and search operation, they said.

The incident occurred at around 7 a. m. this morning when passengers from the bus tried to remove the IEDs (improvised explosive device) placed on the highway by the insurgents.

The Maoists have called an ‘indefinite strike’ in Kapilvastu district for the last three days.

On Friday, at least five security personnel were killed when the rebels caused landmine explosion at Khairendrapur of Kapilvastu district. The security personnel were targeted while they were trying to remove road blocks erected by the insurgents along several road sections in the district.

Nepal Samacharpatra daily reported that Suraj Tharu, a two-year-old child, was injured during the gun battle that followed after the explosion.

By blatantly violating international humanitarian laws, Nepali insurgents have been placing improvised explosives along the highways, abducting people and torturing and killing innocents on ‘fictitious charges,’ according to reports.

Maoist chairman, Prachanda, recently said he has instructed his cadres not to target civilians. He even apologized for bombing of a passenger bus at Madi in Chitwan a few months back in which dozens of people, including women and children, were killed.

Critics say the recent incidents show that the Maoist leadership is fast losing its control upon its rank and file as the rebels are indiscriminately targeting civilians in the name of their so-called ‘people’s war.’

Over 11,000 people have lost their lives, thousands of others have been rendered handicapped and thousands of families have been displaced during the nine-year-old Maoist insurgency.

The rebels have damaged or destroyed billions of rupee worth infrastructure in Nepal—one of the poorest countries in the world—in the name of revolution.