KATHMANDU, Nepal — Days before Nepal’s most important elections in years, Maoist militants have opened fire on politicians, blown up vehicles, planted land mines and targeted civilians in dozens of attacks, injuring at least 17 people, some seriously.

“We want this election to be dismissed,” said Om Prakash Pun, a leader of a splinter political party leading the attacks.



This month’s elections, held in two stages starting on Sunday, will fill hundreds of positions at the national and regional levels in what political observers call the largest democratic exercise ever in this small Himalayan nation.

Nepal, a landlocked country between China and India, has struggled to maintain stability in the past two decades. In 2006, an insurgency led by Maoist sympathizers ended after rebels agreed to a peace agreement and the country transitioned from monarchy to democracy. More than 17,000 people had been killed over 10 years of fighting.