Over 100 dead in Bangladesh drug war

DhAkA: More than 100 alleged drug dealers have been killed and thousands detained in Bangladesh in the past fortnight, in a Philippines-style narcotics crackdown that has raised concerns about extrajudicial killings.

Police said 10 more alleged traffickers were gunned down yesterday, some in shootouts with police and others in so-called gang wars between dealers.

A total of 102 suspected traffickers have been killed since Bangladesh launched an aggressive war on drugs in mid-May to smash the surging trade in yaba, a cheap pill combining methamphetamine and caffeine.

“We are saying that this war will continue until we bring it under complete control,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.

Around 12,000 accused dealers have been arrested and tried in special courts since the crackdown began on May 15, with many handed jail sentences of seven days to six months, he added.

Khan said there was “no question” that those killed were drug dealers, despite claims by rights groups that innocent people had died.

“Most of those who were killed had guns. They opened fire as soon as they saw the police,” he said.

“They were not good people. There were 10 to 12 (criminal) cases against each of them.”

But the National Human Rights Commission this week expressed “grave concern” at the mounting death toll and sounded the alarm over alleged extrajudicial killings.

The Rapid Action Battalion, an elite police unit in charge of the sweep, said all 24 people killed by its forces were “top drug traders”, but provided no evidence. — AFP