Kathmandu, Feb. 28 (Reuters): A strike called by an umbrella group of indigenous groups demanding more political rights shut schools and shops today across Nepal.

It was the latest ethnic protest to hit the Himalayan country as it emerges from a peace deal ending a decade-old civil war with Maoist rebels that killed more than 13,000 people.

The Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities includes lower-caste Hindu groups, poor highlanders and Madhesis, an ethnic group who have been a focus of anti-government protests this year in which at least 25 people have died.

The federation is demanding more seats for indigenous groups in parliament.

Nepal plans to elect an Assembly in June that will prepare a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy.

In Kathmandu, hundreds of policemen guarded government buildings but there was no violence, officials said. Strikers gathered at road crossings and turned back the few private vehicles travelling on largely deserted streets.