Mayor of Dhangadi municipality in western Nepal was shot dead Monday afternoon by suspected anti-government guerrillas, police said.

Dhan Bahadur Bam, mayor of Dhangadi municipality of Kailali district, 400 km west of Kathmandu, was killed as he was about to leave his office, a local police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The culprits decamped away after the incident, he noted, addingthat security men have cordoned off the area in search of the culprits.

The anti-government guerrillas have intensified their assassination activities in Nepal's major cities in recent days. Nearly 10,000 Nepalese people have lost their lives since the anti-government insurgency broke out in the Himalayan kingdom in early 1996.

Sourcve: Xinhua