Kathmandu • Almost two years after the end of the Maoist war in Nepal and signing of a peace pact, the Terai plains along the India-Nepal border are braced for fresh violence with an armed group of former Maoists asking aid agencies to quit within 10 days.

Besides the rebel group, humanitarian agencies, including UN bodies, are also under siege from the Maoists, who are poised to form the new government by this month.

A faction of the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), a band of former Maoists, has asked the staff of development projects to leave Terai, causing grave concern to international agencies, including the UN.

After the Rajan Mukti faction of the splintered underground outfit issued a press statement, asking the staff of projects from the Terai to leave the plains in 10 days, "development partners are at alarm stage and taking precautions while moving in field and other activities", the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Activities (OCHA) said in a press statement. In addition, the Maoists, who in the past undertook to allow aid agencies to work without any hindrance, are now increasingly targeting them.

The OCHA has documented at least seven incidents of unacceptable pressure by the Maoists.