Nepal Deploys Army to Enforce Curfew After Anti-Corruption Protests

# Nepal Deploys Army to Enforce Curfew After Anti-Corruption Protests

*Event date: 2025-09-10*

Nepal’s military has been deployed to the streets of Kathmandu to enforce an indefinite curfew after days of escalating anti-corruption protests, arson and clashes that left the capital under heavy security control.

The Euronews report in the packet says the unrest began after the government ordered the shutdown of 26 social media platforms that had not complied with local registration rules. What started as a dispute over online regulation widened rapidly into a broader Gen Z protest movement focused on corruption, political privilege and unemployment.

By the time the army moved in, tens of thousands of protesters had stormed the parliament building, set it on fire and attacked politicians. Soldiers ordered residents to stay inside as they checked vehicles and pedestrians in an effort to normalize the situation. The report says the military is rarely deployed in Nepal and had initially stayed in barracks while police failed to contain the violence.

The unrest also spread beyond the streets. Prisoners overpowered guards at the main jail in central Kathmandu and tried to escape, prompting soldiers to fire into the air. The attempt was blocked and detainees were transferred to other prisons. On earlier days of the protests, demonstrators set fire to government buildings, politicians’ homes and other official sites.

The political consequences have been severe. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned, but the report says that did little to calm the crowds. President Ram Chandra Poudel, the ceremonial head of state, accepted the resignation and asked Oli to lead a caretaker government until a new one is formed, though his position and whereabouts were unclear.

The packet also places the protests in a wider social context. The government says more than 2,000 young people leave Nepal every day to seek work abroad, and youth unemployment has been running at about 20%, according to the World Bank. That backdrop helps explain why the protest movement moved beyond the social media shutdown and turned into a wider grievance against the political class.

Rights groups had already criticized the social media bill as an attempt to control expression online. The shutdown applied to roughly two dozen popular platforms, while services such as TikTok, Viber and a few others that had registered continued operating. Even after the ban was rolled back, however, the demonstrations continued, showing that the immediate trigger was no longer the only issue driving the street movement.

The evidence packet does not give a final casualty count beyond the 19 people police reportedly killed when they opened fire on crowds earlier in the week. It does, however, show a country in crisis, with the army now acting as the main force behind public order in the capital.