Agence France Presse

Kathmandu, January 14

Monkeys have invaded the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and are attacking staffers, destroying stationery and damaging office equipment, embassy officials said today.

They are also attacking children in the jungle area surrounding the embassy which is used by locals for picnicking, an embassy official said. "We have requested wildlife officials to get rid of the monkeys, which have been creating a menace in the embassy vicinity, as soon as possible," said press and culture first secretary Sanjay Verma.

The embassy, the oldest diplomatic mission in Kathmandu, is surrounded by jungle, giving the monkeys free reign to plunder the premises. A Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation official said wildlife experts were doing their best to chase the monkeys.

"Though experts have used tranquilliser darts and other control techniques, the problem has not been solved," he added. He said about a dozen of monkeys were creating the nuisance and that one had recently been caught and sent to the national zoo in Lalitpur.