Indefinite Curfew in Nepal's Birgunj After Clashes, Security Ramped Up for Polls

According to the Chief District Officer, the curfew was imposed under Section 6(a) of the Local Administration Act, 2028, which prohibits residents from moving around, gathering, rallying, demonstrating, holding meetings, or sieging within the designated areas, which include Bypass Road in the east, Sirsia River in the west, Gandak Chowk in the north, and Shankaracharya Gate in the south.

"In view of the latest security situation, a curfew order has been issued from 9:45 am today, February 23, 2026, until further orders, in accordance with Section 6 (a) of the Local Administration Act, 2028, prohibiting anyone from moving around, gathering, rallying, demonstrating, meeting, or sieging within the following four forts within the Birgunj Metropolitan City area of Parsa district," the notice read.

Authorities clarified that essential movement will be allowed during the curfew, with exemptions including ambulances, fire engines, hearses, vehicles carrying health workers, media personnel, candidates for pre-scheduled university exams, employees at exam centres, tourist vehicles, vehicles of human rights and diplomatic missions, and air passengers travelling with valid tickets.

Security personnel have been deployed to enforce the curfew and facilitate the movement of exempted vehicles, according to local administration officials.

Meanwhile, additional security forces have been deployed to districts outside the Kathmandu valley, especially the southern plains of Nepal, to maintain security across nearly 11 thousand polling stations, ahead of the national polls.

More than 3 lakh security personnel, including police, army, election police and more, are tasked with ensuring a peaceful election process on March 5.

At the Nepal Police Academy in Kathmandu, over three thousand police personnel boarded buses as they started off for assigned districts to maintain security for the March 5 election.

- ANI