Indian-Nepal flights grounded


New Delhi, India, Sep. 2 (UPI) --
Nearly all flights between India and Nepal are grounded due to rioting in Katmandu over the slaying of 12 Nepalese in Iraq, airline officials said Thursday.
Private-run carrier Sahara India Airlines said it had put off Wednesday's inauguration of a daily New Delhi-Katmandu service for 15 days because of tensions in the Himalayan kingdom, reports Sify news.
"We canceled the flight on Tuesday when we learned of the curfew and shoot-at-sight orders. We will wait until the situation subsides," said a Sahara India official, who did not want to be identified.
Royal Nepal Airlines also halted its flight from India to Nepal on Wednesday. The carrier operates 11 flights a week between the two countries.
Indian Airlines canceled two flights to the Nepalese capital, one from Delhi and another from Kolkata on Wednesday. However, it did operate a Delhi-Katmandu flight at the last minute on Thursday.
Nepal lifted a curfew imposed on the capital for a few hours to enable people to buy food and other essentials, a home ministry official said.
The crackdown began on Wednesday after thousands of people rampaged through Katmandu on news of the murders in Iraq, targeting the city's main mosque and Arab airlines and businesses.
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