Two killed in clashes between opposite camps in Bangladesh

Two people have been killed and dozens of others injured in clashes between the campaign workers of the two main political parties in Bangladesh.

Campaign workers from the ruling Awami League Party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and those from opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) clashed in two districts outside the capital, Dhaka, on Tuesday, leaving two Awami League supporters dead, police said on Wednesday.

Police said cases had been opened against 45 people, and more arrests were expected.

Police also said they had “convened a meeting of both parties to avoid such an incident in future.”

Hasan Mahmud, a spokesman for the ruling party, accused the BNP of trying to “foil a peaceful environment and for that they are attacking our people.”

The opposition, which denied the allegation, on the other hand, accused the incumbent government for trying to create “fear among the people.”

The opposition said at least 200 of its supporters had been injured. It also accused Awami League workers of attacking the motorcade of the BNP general secretary, a charge denied by Hasan.

The party leader, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has been sentenced to seven years in prison in a second corruption case for embezzling millions from a charitable trust in her late husband’s name.

SS