Mosque bombing in Nepal kills 2

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- At least two people were killed and two wounded when a bomb exploded in a mosque during evening prayers in southeastern Nepal, police said Sunday morning.

The attack took place during evening prayers Saturday in Biratnagar, about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of Kathmandu.

"Two bombs were hurled at a roadside mosque, of which one exploded and the other didn't," Yogendra Katuwal, a senior police official, told CNN. A curfew has been imposed on the area as a precautionary measure.

Both the dead and wounded were Muslims, who make up about 4 percent of the predominantly Hindu nation's 26 million people. The Nepal Defence Army, a small, armed Hindu group that wants Nepal to remain a Hindu kingdom, claimed responsibility for the blast.

Nepal was declared a secular nation in 2006 after weeks of street protests forced Hindu King Gyanendra to give up direct rule. Saturday's bombing comes as Nepal prepares for an April 10 election, after which the monarchy will be abolished and Nepal will be declared a secular republic.

At least five people, including an electoral candidate, had been killed in earlier pre-election violence in different parts of the country. E-mail to a friend

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