Nearly 100 people were killed in anti-government protests in Bangladesh on Sunday, local media reported.
The Associated Press is one of the nation’s leading newspapers. Prothom Alo, Television stations reported that at least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, had been killed in the new wave of anti-government protests, with Channel 24 saying at least 85 had been killed.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in the capital Dhaka and other areas from Sunday evening, the news agency reported.
The protesters are calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, according to the Associated Press, and this follows demonstrations last month by student protesters demanding the end of a quota system that gives 30 percent of government jobs to relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
Last month’s protests, which saw clashes between protesters and police leaving more than 200 people dead, prompted President Hasina to order an 11-day internet shutdown, which was lifted last week.
Prime Minister Hasina described the new wave of protests as “sabotage” and said those taking part in them were criminals. The government announced on Sunday a national holiday from Monday to Wednesday and a shutdown of mobile internet services, the Associated Press reported.
The State Department Travel ban advisory Bangladesh declared a state of emergency last month, citing civil unrest, crime and terrorism.
The Associated Press contributed.
