People's Liberation Army (Nepal)

People's Liberation Army,Nepal
जनमुक्ति सेना, नेपाल
People's Liberation Army, Nepal
Country	Republic of Nepal
Allegiance	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
Branch	People's Liberation Army, Nepal

People's Liberation Army, Nepal (Nepali: जनमुक्ति सेना, नेपाल) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN(M)). The PLA was founded in 2002, in the midst of the Nepal Civil War initiated by the Maoists in 1996. The chief commander of the PLA during the war was Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal). On September 12, 2008, Nanda Kishor Pun was appointed new chief commander of the PLA, as Prachanda had become Prime Minister of Nepal. This move was in line with a pledge issued by the CPN(M), issued prior to the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, that their members elected to the Assembly would leave their PLA positions.

Following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the PLA soldiers stay in cantoments. The CPA stipulates that PLA and the Royal Nepal Army should be integrated. The government of Dahal claims the PLA-NA integrations will be completed by six months.

After the negotiations with Government of the king broke down, CPN(M) decided changing their strategy. Meanwhile Maoist senior leader C.P. Gajurel was arrested on August 20, 2003 at Chennai International Airport. In January and February 2004 CPN(M) suffered a big setback and lost more than 80 armies attacking different regions of Nepal. There was a pressure from international side, the human rights organization for the brutal killings and kidnappings of civil countrymen during the insurgency. Issuing a press statement on March 16, 2004 Chairman Prachanda said, "Our party has been committed to the fundamental norms of human rights and the Geneva convention since the start of the people’s war. Anyone who without prejudice judges the facts of the eight years can find our People’s Liberation Army has been showing respectful behaviour, treatment to the injured and releasing the prisoners of the war in good condition."