KATHMANDU, June 7 (Reuters) - Armed groups attacked or threatened at least 72 journalists this year in Nepal's southern plains, which were hit by anti-government protests and ethnic unrest, watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday.

The Paris-based organisation asked the government to do "everything possible" to put an end to what it called a climate of open hostility to the media.

"This is alarming," the group said in a statement. "Armed militants are harassing journalists with the aim of silencing them or turning them into propagandists."

Several armed groups including those that split from the Maoists, who signed a peace deal with the government last year, have been fighting in the southern plains bordering India, seeking autonomy for the region.

Reporters Without Borders said these groups criticised journalists for producing reports that highlight their abuses.

"In other cases, their motive for attacking journalists is the lack of coverage of their activities," it said.

At least 60 people were killed this year in violent protests in the southern plains by groups demanding regional autonomy or more government jobs and seats in parliament for the area, which is the breadbasket of desperately poor Nepal.

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