Montage based on a '13,246: the official count of the number of Nepalis killed between 1996-2006'.
©Ram Humagain

After the Nepali peoples' nationwide pro-democracy protests finally forced King Gyanendra to restore democracy and relinquish power, a fragile cease-fire was put in place. The Nepali Civil War, or 'People's War' as it is called by the Maoists, officially ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement by the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (more commonly known as 'Prachanda' - 'the Fierce One'), on the 21st November 2006.

At the time the official estimate of the number of Nepalis who died in the decade-long conflict was 13,246 with a further 150,000 people estimated to have been displaced. More recent estimates have put the number of dead at over 16,000.

The psychological scars left by Nepal's Civil War continue to affect Nepalis to this day. The loss of so many lives - many of them innocent non-combatants - is a still source of great sorrow. However the idealogical battles between the Maoists and the other political parties are not yet over. Nepal continues to be a country in conflict with itself.

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