As talks with the government failed, Nepal's former Maoist guerrillas on Sunday enforced a three-day general strike nationwide, shutting down transport, industries and educational institutions and cutting off road links with India.

Defying the morning chill, hundreds of former rebels began holding protest marches in the capital and major towns outside, blocking highways by burning tyres and shouting slogans against President Ram Baran Yadav, the target of the protests.