At least 19 people were killed on Monday when police dispersed young demonstrators in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal demanding the government lift a social media ban and tackle corruption.

Several social media sites – including Facebook, YouTube and X – have been inaccessible in Nepal since Friday after the government blocked 26 unregistered platforms, leaving users angry and confused.

Police used rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon and batons when the demonstrators pushed through barbed wire and tried to storm into a restricted area near parliament.

"Seventeen people have died," Shekhar Khanal, spokesman for the Kathmandu valley police, told AFP. Another two people were killed in Sunsari district in eastern Nepal, local media reported.

Khanal said about 400 people were injured, including over 100 police.

Following the violence, home minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned at a cabinet meeting in the evening, local media reported.

"I had been there for a peaceful protest, but the government used force," said Iman Magar, 20, who was hit in his right arm.

"It was not a rubber bullet but a metallic one, and it took away a part of my hand. The doctor says I need to undergo an operation."

Sirens wailed through the city as the injured were taken to hospitals.

"I have never seen such a disturbing situation at the hospital," said Ranjana Nepal, information officer at the Civil Hospital, which received many of the wounded.

"Tear gas entered the hospital area as well, making it difficult for doctors to work," she told AFP.

The United Nations demanded a swift and transparent probe of the violence.

"We are shocked by the killings and injury of protesters in Nepal today and urge a prompt and transparent investigation," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

"We have received several deeply worrying allegations of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by security forces."

The district administration imposed a curfew in several key areas of the city.

Nepal's cabinet decided last month to give the affected social media firms seven days to register in Nepal, establish a point of contact and designate resident grievance and compliance officers.

In a statement on Sunday, the government said it respected freedom of thought and expression and was committed to "creating an environment for their protection and unfettered use". (AFP)