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Deadly clashes in Bangladesh, two killed

January 5, 2015

Two Bangladeshi opposition supporters have been shot and killed during a nation-wide confrontation between rivaling political factions. This has been the latest development as the political crisis deepens.

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Bangladeshi police stand guard in front of the house of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia in Dhaka
Image: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Two men on a motorbike fired shots on a group of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists in northwestern Bangladesh on Monday, killing two people. The victims belonged to the party student wing, according to local leader Aminul Haque.

"Both are from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party who joined a protest outside Natore. Both were shot dead during clashes with Awami League supporters," Mohammad Fariduddin, a police inspector in the northern town of Natore, told AFP. At least 15 people were injured in the clashes, he added.

The identities of the alleged shooters were not immediately known.

From armored vehicles to trucks

The shooting came amid street clashes, which broke out on the first anniversary of a controversial election in Bangladesh. The vote held on January 5, 2014, was boycotted by the main opposition parties, which gave the current prime minister Sheikh Hasina another five-year term.

Fresh violence also broke out in the capital Dhaka on Monday, where the leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia, is confined to her office under a police siege. The police had blocked the area on Saturday night. Zia had called onto her supporters to come out to the streets in order to pressure the prime minister to hold a new elections.

Police stepped up their siege on Monday, by parking 11 trucks laden with sand and bricks outside the gates of Khaleda Zia's compound and on the road leading to the building. Riot police, with armored vehicles and a water canon, prevented anyone from entering or leaving the area.

"The trucks have been parked in an effort to step up her security," local police chief Rafiqul Islam told AFP.

Scuffles had also broken out near Zia's office Sunday when a former president, Badruddoza Chowdhury, was denied entry after trying to meet with the opposition leader.

Khaleda Zia's aide and lawyer Khandakar Mahbub Hossain did manage to meet her on Sunday, telling reporters afterwards that she had asked people to "continue protests until the government is toppled".

dj/rg (AFP, AP)