Nepalese police fired live rounds at pro-democracy protesters at Kalanki in the west of Kathmandu on Thursday where thousands of people had gathered in defiance of a shoot-to-kill curfew imposed by King Gyanendra.

Eyewitnesses said police first fired rubber bullets to disperse several thousand protesters at Kalanki, but then deployed live rounds, killing at least three people and wounding many more. Security forces killed at least four on Wednesday.