DHAKA: Protesters and police clashed in Kathmandu on Saturday at a demonstration by some 30,000 people led by the Maoist opposition to demand that political parties reach a consensus on a new constitution, in the biggest street march in Nepal in years.

Police lobbed teargas shells and used cane batons to stop demonstrators from advancing to the parliament building, leaving more than a dozen people injured, witnesses said, reports The Straits Times.

Thousands of police in riot gear stood behind concertina wire barricades to guard key government buildings across the capital city known for its temples and surrounding mountains.

Almost a decade has passed since the end of a civil war that pitted Maoist guerillas against the state and killed more than 17,000 people.

Nepal’s political parties have repeatedly missed deadlines to write the new republic’s first constitution.

BDST: 2031 HRS, FEB 28, 2015