The anti-government guerrillas have torched two passenger buses and abducted two security personnel who were traveling in one of the buses in eastern Nepal, local police office said Monday.

The rebels torched the buses at Kadmaha road section in Udayapur district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu, on Sunday for defying their strike, local police office said in a statement.

Two soldiers who were traveling in the bus bound to Gaighat from Katari were abducted by the guerrillas, according to the statement.

The passengers doused the fire after the guerrillas fled the scene, the statement said.

Meanwhile, human rights organizations and journalists have appealed the guerrillas for the safe and immediate release of the abducted security men, the statement added.

Over 12,000 Nepalese people have been killed since the anti-government insurgency took place in the Himalayan kingdom in February 1996.

Source: Xinhua