Nepal mayor gunned down
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iKATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- The mayor of Birgunj in southern Nepal was shot and killed by suspected Maoist rebels.
Gopal Giri was shot at pointblank range, family sources said, noting he had refused to give into Maoist extortion demands.
If the rebel connection is confirmed, it would be the first time the rebels have targeted the mayor of a major city.
Since peace talks between the rebels and the government collapsed in August, the Maoists have made assassination bids on three senior army officers, killing two of them.
In the final months of 2003, the Nepal government launched a major military offensive against the rebels.
Birgunj is located 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Kathmandu, the capital, near the Nepal-India border.
Maoist rebels have been fighting since early 1996 to turn this Himalayan Kingdom into a communist republic.
In October, the U.S. State Department designated the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) as a terrorist organization under a presidential executive order, freezing the group's assets in the United States and prohibiting financial support of the Maoists by U.S. citizens.
-- Journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay in Kathmandu contributed to this report
