Three killed in Bangladesh after clashes in Hasina's hometown
The clashes were triggered after members of Hasina's Awami League attempted to foil a rally by the National Citizens Party (NCP), made up of many students who spearheaded the uprising last year.
Three people were killed after police got involved, and 17 others sustained various injuries, including bullet wounds, said Monoj Baral, a nurse at the Gopalganj District Hospital.
'One of the deceased was identified as Ramjan Sikdar. Families took away two other bodies,' Baral told AFP.
Gopalganj authorities imposed a curfew in the district following the violence.
Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity
Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus termed the attempt to foil the NCP rally 'a shameful violation of their fundamental rights'.
'This heinous act… will not go unpunished,' a statement from his office said.
The NCP was scheduled to hold the rally as part of their countrywide 'July March' programme to commemorate the uprising anniversary, local media reported.
Gopalganj is a stronghold of the Awami League, as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – the founding president of Bangladesh – hailed from this district, and Hasina also contested elections from this constituency.
Hasnat Abdullah, an NCP coordinator, said those rallying took refuge at a police station after being attacked.
'We don't feel safe at all. They threatened to burn us alive,' Hasnat told AFP.
The NCP has called for a blockade in response to the violence.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Bangladesh's largest Islamist party holds mega rally
DHAKA: Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Bangladesh's main Islamist party rallied on Saturday, demanding an overhaul of the electoral system as the country gears up for polls next year. The Jamaat-e-Islami party has gained significant momentum since the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a popular uprising last year. During her tenure, Hasina took a hardline stance against Jamaat, even cancelling its registration as a political party. For decades, Jamaat was barred from holding public rallies. Last month, the Supreme Court restored the party's registration, paving the way for its participation in elections slated for next April. Bangladesh police arrest 20 after deadly clashes in ousted premier's hometown 'We have suffered a lot in the last 15 years. We went to jail, we were robbed of our political rights,' Mohammad Abdul Mannan, a 29-year-old party activist, told AFP. Demonstrators braving the sweltering heat in the capital demaded changes to the distrution of seats, calling for proportional representation. 'We've gathered here in masses to press our seven-point demand, which includes participatory representation in parliament,' Mannan said. 'Elections shouldn't be held unless our demands are fulfilled.' After independence, Jamaat was banned. It later re-emerged and registered its best electoral performance in 1991 when it secured 18 seats. The party joined a coalition government in 2001, but failed to build lasting popular support. 'We want a proportional representation system so that winners can't take all – we too deserve a voice,' Mannan said. Tens of thousands of demonstrators began swarming the Suhrawardy Udyan memorial in capital Dhaka by midday, spilling out into the surrounding park. Some wore T-shirts bearing the party's logo, others sported headbands inscribed with its name, while many displayed metallic badges shaped like a scale - the party's electoral symbol. Md Shafiqul Islam, 58, travelled from Bogura - a stronghold of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is eyeing a landslide victory in the polls. 'I felt it was my duty as a Muslim to attend. Jamaat-e-Islami promises to establish an Islamic country, and that's why I came,' Shafiqul told AFP. During Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami supported Islamabad, a role that sparks anger among many Bangladeshis today. Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal sentenced several of Jamaat-e-Islami's senior leaders to death for their roles in the war, executing four of them. Many Bangladeshis believe the party must acknowledge its past to regain public trust and become a viable electoral force. But at the rally, supporters offered a different take. 'Jamaat is being blamed unfairly,' said a 33-year-old private service holder, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. 'It did nothing except uphold the integrity of the nation.'
Business Recorder
6 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 26 near two aid centres
GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday that Israeli fire killed 26 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres, in the latest deaths of Palestinians seeking food. Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory's authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire. But the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has replaced UN agencies as the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians. Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in the south, attributing the deaths to 'Israeli gunfire'. One witness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when 'Israeli soldiers' started shooting. Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 10 aid seekers 'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.' Three other witnesses also accused troops of opening fire. 'Warning shots' In response, the Israeli military said it 'identified suspects who approached them during operational activity in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops'. Soldiers called for them to turn back and 'after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots', it said, adding that it was aware of the reports about casualties. 'The incident is under review. The shots were fired approximately one kilometre (more than half a mile) away from the aid distribution site at nighttime when it's not active,' it said in a statement. Israeli strikes kill 27 in Gaza, three die in church late pope often spoke to Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. The war in Gaza has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Most people have been displaced at least once by the fighting, and doctors and aid agencies say the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of conflict are being increasingly seen. 'We are receiving cases suffering from extreme exhaustion and complete fatigue, in addition to severe emaciation and acute malnutrition due to prolonged lack of food,' the director of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Khan Yunis, Sohaib Al-Hums, said on Friday. 'Hundreds' of people were facing 'imminent death', he added. The World Food Programme said nearly one in three people in Gaza were not eating for days at a stretch and 'thousands' were 'on the verge of catastrophic hunger'. The free flow of aid into Gaza is a key demand of Hamas in indirect negotiations with Israel for a 60-day ceasefire in the war, alongside a full Israeli military withdrawal. 'Agitators' Following a more than two-month Israeli aid blockade, GHF took over the running of aid distribution in late May, despite criticism from the United Nations, which previously coordinated handouts, that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. GHF said 20 people died at its Khan Yunis site on Wednesday but blamed 'agitators in the crowd… armed and affiliated with Hamas' for creating 'a chaotic and dangerous surge' and firing at aid-seekers. The previous day, the United Nations said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 'in the vicinity of GHF sites', since it began operating. Israel has killed 58,667 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Business Recorder
6 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Syria forces deploy in Druze heartland after US brokers deal with Israel
SWEIDA: Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday under a US-brokered deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention in the Druze-majority province. Israel had bombed defence ministry forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province. More than 700 people have been killed in Sweida since Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Sunni Bedouin drew in the government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. The office of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced an 'immediate ceasefire' in Sweida which it called on 'all parties to fully respect'. But AFP correspondents in and around the city reported gunfire and sporadic rocket fire and explosions as Druze fighters battled armed Bedouin who had seized some neighbourhoods on Friday with the support of volunteers from other parts of Syria. The Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor, said the armed volunteers had been deployed with the support of the government although an AFP journalist said security personnel were manning checkpoints on Saturday to prevent further reinforcements getting through. Druze fighters said the volunteers were mostly Islamists, who advanced to shouts of 'Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)'. Syria troops quit Druze heartland after violence leaves over 594 dead One armed tribesman told AFP he had come to fight against the Druze clergy and their 'pig followers'. 'Today we came to their homes and we will slaughter them in their homes,' he said. US-brokered deal The deal between the Syrian government and Israel was announced by Washington early on Saturday Damascus time. US pointman on Syria, Tom Barrack, said interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'have agreed to a ceasefire' negotiated by the United States. Barrack, who is US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of Sharaa, as well as neighbouring Jordan. 'We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours,' he wrote on X. The US administration, which has sided with Turkey and Saudi Arabia in forging ties with the president despite his past links with Al-Qaeda, was critical of its Israeli ally's air strikes on Sria earlier this week and had sought a way out for his government. Sharaa followed up on the US announcement with a televised speech in which he renewed his pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities. 'The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country… We condemn all crimes committed' in Sweida, he said. The president paid tribute to the 'important role played by the United States, which again showed its support for Syria in these difficult circumstances and its concern for the country's stability'. He also thanked Turkey and Arab countries for their support. 'No more room in morgue' The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said at least 718 people had been killed since Sunday. They included 146 Druze fighters and 245 Druze civilians, 165 of whom were summarily executed. The monitor said 287 government troops and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed along with three Bedouin 'who were summarily executed by Druze fighters'. Fifteen more government troops were killed in Israeli air strikes. In the corridors of the city's main public hospital, a foul odour emanated from the swollen and disfigured bodies piled up in refrigerated storage units, an AFP correspondent reported. A small number of doctors and nurses at the hospital worked to treat the wounded arriving from the ongoing clashes, some in the hallways. Doctor Omar Obeid told AFP that the hospital had received 'more than 400 bodies' since Monday morning. 'There is no more room in the morgue. The bodies are in the street,' he added. The International Committee for the Red Cross warned that health facilities were overwhelmed, with power cuts impeding the preservation of bodies in overflowing morgues. 'The humanitarian situation in Sweida is critical. People are running out of everything,' said Stephan Sakalian, the head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria. The International Organization for Migration said 79,339 civilians had fled the fighting.
