Hasina urges students to go home as cops fire at protest
Dhaka, Aug 5: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged students on Sunday to go home as police fired tear gas during an eighth day of unprecedented protests over road safety which have paralysed parts of Dhaka.
Students in their tens of thousands have brought parts of the capital to a standstill after two teenagers were killed by a speeding bus.
The unrest quickly spread beyond the capital. Authorities have shut down mobile internet services across swathes of the country, officials and local media said.
Today the protests took a violent turn in Dhaka's Jigatala neighbourhood, with more than 100 people injured as police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators.
A car carrying US ambassador Marcia Bernicat was also attacked by “armed men” but she escaped unscathed, the embassy said.
The violence continued today with police firing tear gas into a large crowd marching toward an office of the ruling Awami League party, an AFP correspondent said.
Hasina warned today that a “third party” could sabotage the protests and put the safety of demonstrators at risk.
“That's why I request all guardians and parents to keep their children at home. Whatever they have done is enough,” the prime minister said from her office.
Some youngsters were rushed to hospital yesterday after being attacked, allegedly by pro- government activists, witnesses said.
Hasina's warning came as protesters marched towards the scene of yesterday's clashes chanting “We want justice!”