Nepalese soldiers inspect the wreckage of a bus struck by a powerful land mine June 6.

The rebels, who did not deny responsibility for the attack in a brief statement on their Web site, said they would launch a "serious" investigation.

"We have suspicions that this could be a conspiracy to disrupt the integrated movement against the royal government," the statement added, without elaborating.

Army investigators said the attack, which came without warning in a rural area many believed to be relatively safe, was one of the bloodiest on Nepalese civilians since the Maoist insurgency began in 1996.

Previously only civilian passenger buses that had defied rebel calls for transportation strikes had been targeted, but the guerrillas have stepped up violence since Feb. 1, when King Gyanendra took control of the government and imposed a state of emergency until April.

The Japan Times Weekly: June 11, 2005
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