South Nepal's Siraha district local government extended curfew hours on Tuesday.

After the daylong curfew ended at 7 PM local time (13:15 GMT) on Tuesday evening, the local administration decided to re-impose curfew from 10 PM local time (16:15 GMT) till 04:00 AM on Wednesday (22:15 GMT, Tuesday) in Lahan city. Former curfew clamped on Tuesday was from 7:00 AM local time (02:15 GMT) to 7:00 PM local time.

The Unrest-torn Lahan municipality, Siraha district is some 150 km to the southeast of capital Kathmandu.

Death toll reached five after two more people who were shot during Monday's clash between police and the demonstrators in Lahan died on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the condition of the three injured protesters who currently being treated in a hospital was critical.

Two died during the scuffle between Madheshi Peoples' Rights Forum (MPRF, also called the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum) and policemen on Monday afternoon.

The violent demonstrations led by MPRF began on last Friday, claiming one of its members was shot dead by a cadre of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (formerly known as guerrilla). CPN cadres traveled in vehicles while MPRF was calling on a rally and strike in Lahan, which led to a scuffle between the two sides.

Also on Tuesday, the UN Security Council decided to establish a UN Political Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) for one year with a mandate to monitor the ceasefire and assist in the election of a Constituent Assembly.

In a resolution adopted unanimously, the Council tasked the new Mission with monitoring the management of arms and armed personnel of both sides through a Joint Monitoring Coordinating Committee.

Meanwhile, the Mission would provide technical support for the planning, preparation and conduct of the election and provide a small team of electoral monitors to review all technical aspects of the electoral process and report on the conduct of the election.

The Council also expressed its intention to terminate or further extend UNMIN's mandate upon the request of the Nepalese government, taking into consideration the Secretary-General's expectation that the Mission would be a focused mission of limited duration.

In a related provision, the Council requested the parties in Nepal to take the necessary steps to promote the safety, security and freedom of UNMIN and associated personnel in executing the tasks defined in the mandate.

(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2007)