'Nepal troops, rebels killing civilians'

Both Nepali government troops and Maoist rebels are abducting, torturing and killing ordinary people as an eight-year-old conflict escalates across the impoverished kingdom, a human rights groups said on Thursday.
In a report "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Civilians Struggle to Survive in Nepal's Civil War," Human Rights Watch detailed how innocent people were often faced with untenable choices in a "dirty war" that had killed more than 10,000.
"Refusal to provide shelter to the rebels puts villagers at risk from Maoists who are ruthless in their punishments, while providing such support leaves them vulnerable to reprisal attacks from security forces," it said holding both sides responsible for regular intimidation, extortion, abductions or disappearances.