Nepal's PM faces court hearing into deaths during Maoist insurgency

FILE PHOTO: Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, delivers a speech before a confidence vote at the parliament in Kathmandu, Nepal January 10, 2023. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's top court will hear a petition on Thursday demanding the arrest of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and an investigation into his leadership during a decade-long civil war that killed thousands of people, court officials and petitioners said.

Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla commander, led rebels against Nepal's security forces during the conflict, which raged for 10 years until 2006 and killed about 17,000 people before a peace deal overseen by the United Nations put an end to hostilities.