Kathmandu, Feb. 25 (Reuters): A family of French tourists survived one of several bomb attacks in Nepal today by suspected Maoist rebels as a pro-Maoist group staged a general strike for the third time in a month.

A police spokesman said a French couple and two children were unhurt after a crude bomb was thrown at their van at Jhallari, about 600 km west of Kathmandu, shortly after they had driven over the Indian border.

“The van used by them was damaged but the French nationals escaped without any harm,” the spokesman said.

Their names were not available.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but police blamed the Maoists for the first recorded attack on foreign tourists in an area regarded as a rebel stronghold.

The attack came on the first day of a five-day strike called by the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (Revolutionary) to disrupt college elections set for tomorrow.

The students’ union is linked to Maoist rebels fighting to topple Nepal’s constitutional monarchy and replace it with a communist republic.

Two bombs also went off in Kathmandu but caused no injury, officials said.

Riot police and soldiers patrolled the streets of the temple-studded capital; shops and businesses closed and most transport stayed off the roads, although officials said air travel was not affected.

“We call on college authorities to cancel the elections or face serious consequences,” the Maoist student group said in a statement.

Maoist calls for strikes are generally heeded, partly out of fear of reprisals by Maoists against those who continue to work.

“I have closed my shop because I cannot risk being attacked later,” said Krishna Shrestha, a hardware dealer in Kathmandu.