armed forces

Main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) has objected the fresh recruitment drive of People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Speaking at a press meet on Tuesday, vice president of the party Ram Chandra Poudel said PLA’s decision to start new recruitments is objectionable as PLA is under the Army Integration Committee - which comprises representatives from all major political parties and against the norms of the peace accord.

A former Maoist rebel commander said on Tuesday the group plans to recruit thousands of fighters, a move seen as a blow to peace that underlined serious tensions between Nepal's army and the Maoists.

Nanda Kishore Pun, chief of the Maoist fighters, told Reuters it was the ex-rebel group's turn to fill vacancies in their ranks after Nepal's national army recruited 2,800 personnel last year.

The move could endanger a 2006 peace pact that ended a decades-long civil war and saw the Maoists joining the political process, winning an election last year, analysts said.