At least 90 killed in Bangladesh renewed violence

DHAKA: At least 91 people have been killed, including 13 police officers, and dozens more injured in a new round of violence in Bangladesh as police fired tear gas and lobbed stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who returned to the streets to ask Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.

The deaths in the renewed violence in Bangladesh were reported by the police and doctors in the capital Dhaka and the northern districts of Bogura, Pabna and Rangpur, as well as in Magura in the west, Comilla in the east, and Barisal and Feni in the south.

The attack on the police took place at the Enayetpur police station in the northwest city of Sirajganj, according to Additional Deputy Inspector General Vijay Basak of the Bangladesh police. The identity of the attackers is unknown.

The demonstrators are demanding Hasina’s resignation after earlier protests in July that began with students calling for an end to a quota system for government jobs and escalated into violence that killed 200 people.

Hasina said those who were engaging in the “sabotage” and the destruction in the name of protests were no longer students, but criminals, and said the people should deal with them with iron hands.

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Authorities have blocked internet access and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew.

The government, meanwhile, announced a holiday from Monday to Wednesday. Courts will remain closed for an indefinite period. Authorities also closed schools and universities across the country.

Mobile internet service was off on Sunday, while Facebook and messaging apps including WhatsApp were inaccessible even on broadband internet. Junior Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat said mobile internet and messaging services were off to help prevent violence.

At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.