More than 12 dead in violent protests over social media/ What's happening in Nepal

2025-09-09 14:03:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

More than 12 dead in violent protests over social media/ What's happening

Nepal's prime minister has resigned after more than a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured during youth-led protests sparked by the government's ban on social media platforms, widespread corruption and poor economic opportunities.

Security forces used live ammunition and tear gas during protests in several cities, according to Reuters news agency. At least 22 people have been killed, Dr. Mohan Regmi, executive director of the Civil Service Hospital in Kathmandu, told CNN on Tuesday.

Nepal, a Himalayan nation of 30 million people, is known for its turbulent politics and has seen more than a dozen governments since it became a republic after abolishing its 239-year-old monarchy in 2008 after a decade-long civil war. However, the latest protests, led by people aged 13 to 28, a group known as Generation Z, are Nepal's worst unrest in decades.

Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced his resignation on Tuesday in a letter citing the emergency situation in the country, according to a copy of the note posted on social media by a senior aide.

Protesters took to the streets again in the capital on Tuesday, defying a curfew imposed in the city center and after the government lifted a ban on social media. Photos from Reuters showed protesters burning a police booth and furniture outside the office of the Nepali Congress, Nepal's largest political party. The international airport was closed due to violence in the city that affected operations, Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Gyanendra Bhul told CNN.

South of Kathmandu, in Chandrapur municipality, police fired shots in the air as protesters defied a curfew to gather, a local official told CNN. Protesters also set a police car on fire, the source said.

Here's what we know about the unrest that has gripped Nepal.

What sparked the protests?

Anger against the government over what many see as decades of widespread corruption in Nepal had begun to boil over and spilled onto the streets of the capital last week after the government blocked social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube and X, in a move that was widely criticized by human rights groups.

The government had drawn up new rules that it said were necessary to combat fake news and hate speech and threatened to ban any social media company that would not register.

Protests turn deadly

The protests turned violent on Monday, as protesters clashed with police at the parliament complex in Kathmandu.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of young protesters, many of whom were wearing school or college uniforms, according to Reuters.

Protesters set fire to an ambulance and threw objects at riot police guarding the legislature, Reuters reported, citing a local official.

"The police are shooting indiscriminately," a protester told Indian news agency ANI.

Hospital authorities earlier said at least 17 people were killed in Kathmandu and two others in the eastern city of Itahari on Monday.

More than 400 people, including security force personnel, were hospitalized after sustaining injuries on Monday, according to a report from Nepal's health ministry. International organizations quickly condemned the deadly police crackdown and called for an independent investigation./ CNA, translated by CNN