Renewed anti-government protests have left nearly 100 people dead and hundreds injured in Bangladesh.
Dhaka, Bangladesh: Nearly 100 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday as renewed anti-government protests spread across Bangladesh, with protesters demanding the resignation of the prime minister and the prime minister accusing protesters of “sabotage” and cutting off mobile internet connections to quell the unrest.
The country's leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported that at least 95 people, including 14 police officers, were killed in the violence, while Channel 24 reported that at least 85 people were killed.
The army announced that a new curfew would be in effect from Sunday evening indefinitely, including in the capital, Dhaka, and other divisional headquarters and districts. The government had previously imposed a curfew, with some exceptions, in Dhaka and elsewhere.
Protesters have been calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign after protests last month that began with students demanding an end to the quota system for government jobs escalated into violence that left more than 200 people dead.
As the renewed violence continued, Hasina said the protesters who were causing “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals, and she said people should deal with them with a strong hand.
The country's ruling Awami League party said the demand for Hasina's resignation showed the protests had been taken up by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned Jamaat-e-Islami party.
The government has also declared Monday through Wednesday public holidays, with courts closed indefinitely, mobile internet services cut off and Facebook and messaging apps including WhatsApp inaccessible.
Mohammad Ali Arafat, deputy minister of information and broadcasting, said authorities had cut the service to help prevent violence.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks, and the riots have forced schools and universities across the country to close, and in some places authorities have imposed curfews prohibiting shooting on sight.
Protesters have called for “non-cooperation,” demanding that people not pay taxes or utility bills and not come to work on Sundays, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories are open, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities face challenges getting to work.
Protesters attacked the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka's Shahbagh area, and set several vehicles on fire.
Video footage showed protesters destroying a prison van at a Dhaka district court. Other footage showed police opening fire on the crowd with bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas. Protesters set cars and ruling party offices on fire, some carrying sharp weapons and sticks, according to TV footage.
In Dhaka's Uttara district, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who had blocked a main highway. Protesters attacked homes and vandalized a community welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists had been stationed. Witnesses said bombs were detonated and gunshots were heard. At least 20 people were shot in the area.
At least 18 people have been killed in the northwestern district of Sirajganj, including 13 police officers who were killed after protesters attacked a police station, according to the Dhaka police department. Police said another officer was killed in the eastern district of Cumilla.
Five people were killed in Feni district in southeastern Bangladesh as Hasina's supporters clashed with protesters.
Asif Iqbal, a medical officer at a government hospital in the town of Feni, told reporters that five people were injured in the hospital, all of whom had been shot. It was not clear whether they were protesters or ruling party activists.
In Munshiganj district near Dhaka, four people died after being rushed to hospital, officials at Abu Hena Hospital said.
Jamuna TV reported that violent clashes broke out in more than a dozen districts, including Chattogram, Bogura, Magura, Rangpur, Kishoreganj and Sirajganj, as protesters backed by the main opposition parties clashed with police and activists from the ruling Awami League party and its affiliated agencies.
The protests began last month, with students demanding an end to a quota system that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for families of war veterans who fought in Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.
As the violence escalated, the country's Supreme Court ruled that the quota for veterans must be reduced to 5 percent, with 93 percent of jobs to be allocated based on merit, with the remaining 2 percent allocated to members of minority ethnic groups, transgender people and people with disabilities. The government accepted the ruling, but protesters continued to demand accountability for the violence they blame on the government's use of force.
The system also allocates jobs to members of minority groups, people with disabilities and transgender people, whose quotas are cut from 26 percent overall to 2 percent on the judging panel.
Hasina's government has blamed opposition parties and student groups for inciting the violence, with several state buildings burned or vandalised.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the main opposition party, called on the government to resign to end the unrest once again.
Hasina offered to talk to student leaders on Saturday, but the coordinator refused and issued a single demand: her resignation.
Hasina reiterated her commitment to investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence, saying she was ready to sit down whenever protesters wanted.
The protests pose a major challenge for Hasina, who has ruled the country for more than 15 years. She returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in elections boycotted by her main rivals.
