Violence in troubled election in Bangladesh leaves at least 18 dead
At least 18 people were killed Sunday by violence during a Bangladeshi national election boycotted by the opposition and described as flawed by the international community.
Police fired at protesters and opposition activists torched more than 100 polling stations.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rejection of opposition demands to step down and appoint a neutral caretaker to oversee the election led to the boycott, undermining the legitimacy of the vote. Hasina is likely to return to power.
Opposition activists have staged attacks, strikes and blockades in unrest that has left at least 293 people dead since last year.
“We never expected such an election,” said Aminul Islam, a resident of Dhaka, who refused to vote.
Police opened fire to stop protesters from seizing a polling centre in the country’s northern Rangpur district, killing two people, authorities said. In a similar incident in Nilphamari district, police fired into about two dozen protesters, killing two people.
Police gave no further details, but Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper said the four men who were killed belonged to the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party, a key ally of opposition leader Khaleda Zia.
Another 14 people were killed in election-related violence elsewhere, including a polling official who was stabbed to death by suspected opposition activists, police and local media reports said.