Nepali troops move to restore order as death toll rises to 22

Nepal"s military began deploying troops late Tuesday in Kathmandu after a day on which rampaging protesters set upon the South Asian nation"s political elite both in government offices and in their homes, Report informs referring to The New York Times.

A day after government forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least 19, smoke billowed from fires set at Parliament and the Supreme Court in the capital, Kathmandu, as well as from the homes of lawmakers past and present. The wife of one former official was badly burned. Hotels and airports were also attacked.

The violence, which began on Monday, continued even after the Nepalese prime minister resigned and the government retreated from a ban on social media platforms like WhatsApp that had incensed Nepalese already angry over official corruption.

The heads of Nepal"s main security agencies issued a joint statement appealing for calm and calling on political parties to find a peaceful way out of the crisis. But after the resignation of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and other top officials, it was unclear who, if anyone, was in charge.

Later in the day, after the death toll climbed to 22, the army said it would step in. Just after midnight, soldiers and well-armed police officers could be seen on some city streets in Kathmandu. They encircled groups of protesters and, in some cases, forced them to their knees, with hands crossed behind their heads.

The chaos stemmed from a government ban issued last week on major social media platforms that lit a fuse on years of anger and frustration over corruption and economic inequality.