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User:CPA-5/Communist insurgency in Bhutan

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Communist insurgency in Bhutan

Lhotshampa refugees in Beldangi camp in Nepal. The man is holding a Bhutanese passport.
Datemain phase
23 April 2007 – 30 December 2008
(1 year, 8 months and 1 week)
low phase
30 December 2008 – Present
(15 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Southern Bhutan
Result Ongoing
Belligerents

 Bhutan

 India[1]

Communists

Supported by:

Commanders and leaders

Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

Bhutan Batoo Tshering		 Comrade Umesh[6]
Strength
Bhutan 16,000 600–1,000[6]
Casualties and losses
unknown 5+ suspects killed[1]
8+ captured[1]
37+[4]–47 arrested[1][2]
5 civilians killed[7]
11 civilians wounded[1]

The Communist insurgency in Bhutan is an armed conflict between the Bhutanese government and the Communists.

Background

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In the 1980s the then-King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to have a "one nation, one people" policy in Bhutan. This resulted in strip and deport most of the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese (also known as the Lhotshampans) lost their Bhutanese citizenship. Human rights groups claimed that the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) committed beatings, torture and murder against the Lhotshampans.[6]

Nepali-speaking regions in Bhutan

In the late 1980s, over 105,000 Lhotshampans have been forced out of Bhutan in a mass expulsion,[6] in the 1990s, the Lhotshampa people protested against the Bhutanese Government for democratisation and language reforms. The government forcibly evicted the protesters, where they were put into refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Those who stayed have faced widespread discrimination in the country. Inside the refugee camps, insurgent groups have sprung up, including the Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist) (CPB (MLM)).[8] The CPB (MLM) was formed on 22 April 2003, as announced on the website of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).[2]

Conflict

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On 25 April 2007 the RBA defused a bomb planted by the CPB (MLM) in the Phuentsholing village, close to the Indian border.[9][10] On 16 January 2008 RBA found a camp in the Tsirang District after the militants escaped the camp.[10] Four bombs did explode on 20 January at four different locations three were in the south-western part of the country and one in the capital, Thimphu. One woman was injured, and the rebel group United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan (URFB) claimed the attack.[2] In the Samtse District February 2008 a series of bomb attacks exploded, no one was killed or injured in the attacks.[4] During the transition to constitutional monarchy in 2008, the Maoists rocked Bhutan on 12 March with five explosions across the country, including one in the capital Thimphu. They also declared the beginning of the 'People's War'.[1] On 20 March 2008 a twin bomb attacks exploded on a police station in Sibsoo south-western Bhutan.[4] This was four days before the first Bhutanese general election was held.[11] A twin attacks of bombs in Chukha exploded on 5 June, one near the Damchen Petroleum depot and another near a school.[4] The Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) found on 10 August a bomb. It prevented the bomb blast by detecting a storey building in Phuntsholing.[2] On 30 December a blast in the Sarpang District near the Singay village exploded, four of which were killed and two others were injured.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "'Maoists killed' by Bhutan police". BBC News. 12 March 2008. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Bhutan Assessment 2008". South Asia Terrorist Portal. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  3. ^ "The Bhutan Inssurgencies". The Diplomat. 7 May 2007. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)". The Workers Dreadnought Word Press. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Indo-Bhutan Joint Action against Insurgents". IDSA. 5 October 2009. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 3 April 2016 suggested (help)
  6. ^ a b c d "The Bhutan Insurgencies". Global Post. August 25, 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Fatalities in Terrorist Violence in Bhutan 2004-2018". South Asia Terrorist Portal. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Bhutan tolerate democracy but not dissent". Reuters. 15 May 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Tight security in Bhutan after bomb found in border town". Hinduistan Times. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Timeline Bhutan Year 2008". South Asia Terrorist Portal. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. ^ "Main Bhutan election date is set". BBC News. 17 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
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