New York, September 8, 2003—Gyanendra Khadka, a journalist with the government news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), was killed on Sunday, September 7, in Jyamire, in Nepal’s eastern Sindhupalchowk District. CPJ is investigating the incident.

According to RSS, a group of suspected Maoist rebels took Khadka away from a school where he taught part-time and led him to a nearby field, where they tied his hands to a pole and slit his throat. No motive is known for his murder.

Khadka is the first journalist to be killed in Nepal since the rebels pulled out of a cease-fire agreement with government forces last month. His murder came amidst increased violence in the country; a series of bomb blasts went off in the capital today, and gunfights between rebels and government forces are intensifying.