The anti-government guerrillas on Thursday night exploded a powerful bomb at a boarding school in Nepal's mid-southern district of Chitwan, police said Friday.

The Small Heaven Boarding School is owned by Umesh Shrestha, president of the Private and Boarding Schools' Organization of Nepal (PABSON), an umbrella organization of private schools across the country.

"Overpowering the security guards, the rebels bombed the administrative bloc of the building and torched the school bus," alocal police officer told reporters.

Property worth over 3 million Nepali rupees (42,857 US dollars)was destroyed in the blast, the officer said on condition of anonymity.

The PABSON condemned the attack and has asked the government toimmediately compensate the school for the damage. Earlier, asking schools to stay open, the government has assured private schools that it would provide compensation to them if damaged by the insurgents.

The attack followed a student wing of the guerrillas called to close all private schools from April 14, the beginning of Nepal's new academic calendar.

After the call, the student union has attacked a dozen of schools across the country for defying its shutdown order, which demands nationalization of all private schools nationwide, accusing them of being profit-driven.

Source: Xinhua