By DPA
Kathmandu : Nepal tightened security along its border with Tibet in an attempt to prevent influx of Tibetans fleeing the violence, official news agency RSS reported Wednesday.
The government said the security measures were tightened in several districts where it was easy to cross the border from Tibet.
In Mustang district, about 300 km north-west of Kathmandu, local authorities said more security personnel had been mobilized.
The district lies north of the Himalayan mountain range and is geographically a part of the Tibetan plateau.
“Mustang has exercised security alert along the Nepal-China border area, following the outbreak of violence in Tibet since the past few days,” the news agency quoted government officials as saying.
“A security alert has been maintained at the border to avert any untoward incident as a result of the violence, keeping in view that Tibetans have entered Nepal via Mustang illegally during such incidents in the past,” chief government administrator Pradip Raj Kandel said.
The security alert was also heightened on the main road border crossing at Kodari, about 250 km north-east of Kathmandu.
The news agency said both Nepal and China had bolstered its security along the border in the wake of violent protests in Lhasa.
“The security at Kodari point was strengthened so as to avoid any untoward incident in the border,” government officer of Sindhupalchowk district Kailash Nath Kharel said.
Lhasa administration had increased security along the border since six months ago, Kharel said.
The increased security meant Nepalese nationals crossing into the Tibetan border town of Khasa needed a special permit.
Until now a citizenship card was enough to cross into Khasa, which is a major trading town for Nepalese businessmen.
According to the US based Human Rights Watch as many as 3,000 Tibetans risk their lives annually, coming over the Himalayas into Nepal.