Kathmandu, April 12 (Reuters): Nepali troops shot dead an activist today as violent pro-democracy protests flared for the seventh day across the troubled Himalayan nation.

The latest death is the fourth during a mass campaign launched by political parties last Thursday to force the monarch to end his absolute rule. The royalist government relaxed a daytime curfew in Kathmandu, although protests continue to be banned and there was no indication of King Gyanendra trying to defuse the crisis.

Today’s shooting took place in Nawalparasi town, 200 km west of Kathmandu, when hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police, Yogesh Bhattarai, a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), said.

Troops also opened fire at hundreds of activists in Jhapa town, to the east of Kathmandu, wounding several, one local journalist said. But local officials denied the shooting and said the protesters had only been baton-charged.

The Communist Party of Nepal said in a statement that 26 people were wounded in Jhapa and 13 in Nawalparasi.

Hundreds of protesters defied a curfew in the western tourist resort town of Pokhara and clashed with police before some 200 were detained.

About 5,000 people marched through the main streets of Nepalgunj town on the Indian border, about 550 km west of Kathmandu.