19 killed in deadly Nepal app ban stir

At least 19 people died on Monday in Nepal's worst unrest in decades, authorities said, as police in Kathmandu fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm the parliament in anger after the government banned several social media platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube.

- Agencies

Some of the 'Gen Z' protesters, most of them young, forced their way into the parliament complex in Kathmandu by breaking through a barricade, a local official said, setting fire to an ambulance and hurling objects at lines of riot police guarding the legislature.

"The police have been firing indiscriminately," one protester told news agency ANI. "(They) fired bullets which missed me but hit a friend who was standing behind me. He was hit in the hand."

Home minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned from the government after taking "moral responsibility" for the violence, said another government minister, who requested anonymity.

Nepal Police spokesperson Binod Ghimire said 17 people were killed in clashes in various parts of Kathmandu during the rally, and two protesters died in Sunsari district of eastern Nepal in police firing.

The fatalities, including a 12-year-old child, mark the highest single-day toll since the 2006 movement that overthrew King Gyanendra and ended the monarchy. More than 100 people, including 28 police personnel, were receiving medical treatment for their injuries, said Shekhar Khanal, a police officer.