Nepal Parliament Building Set On Fire by Gen Z Protesters

(Hindustan Times): Minutes before Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned from his office, Gen Z protesters broke into Parliament and set fire to one of the buildings on the premises.

Demonstrators also set fire to Oli's residence in Bhaktapur's Balkot area and other senior leaders amid the ongoing protests triggered by a since-revoked social media ban.

Even as the building was on fire, thousands of protesters continued to march towards the Parliament, shouting slogans and raising flags in the area, visuals showed.

The demonstrators also entered the Singha Durbar premises, breaking into the area through its western gate. They also reportedly set the gate on fire while forcing their way into the central administrative complex of Nepal.

The Gen Z protesters shouted slogans like "KP Chor, Desh Chhod", "Take Action Against Corrupt Leaders" across Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu.

The residence of former home minister Ramesh Lekhak at Naikap was also torched just a day after he resigned from the post following the police's use of force on the young protesters agitating against the ban on 26 social media sites, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube.

The protests have so far left 19 people dead and more than 300 others injured.

Meanwhile, officials said that Oli resigned from the PM's post amid mounting pressure in the anti-government protests. His resignation came shortly after hundreds of demonstrators entered his office shouting anti-government slogans.

As protesters moved to vandalise private residences and government buildings, all flights at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) have been cancelled for the day over security concerns, The Kathmandu Post reported. Hansa Raj Pandey, general manager at TIA, however, asserted that the "airport is not closed".