Clashes between Bangladeshi protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and government supporters on Sunday resulted in at least eight deaths, some of whom suffered injuries from gunshots or stab wounds. Police and doctors in hospitals reported that three people were killed in the Babna area (north), two in the Rangpur area (north), two in the Munshiganj neighborhood of the capital Dhaka, and one in the Magura area (west).
Thousands of protesters, many carrying sticks, gathered in a square in central Dhaka on Sunday to participate in large protests calling for the Prime Minister's resignation. Asif Mahmood, one of the main leaders of the protest, urged his supporters to prepare for a fight. He wrote on Facebook on Sunday, "Prepare bamboo sticks and liberate Bangladesh."
While the army intervened to help restore order following previous protests, some former army officers joined the student movement, with former army chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan changing his Facebook profile picture to red to show support. The country has witnessed marches against public sector job quotas that ended in clashes in July, resulting in more than 200 deaths in some of the worst unrest during Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule.
The forces briefly restored calm, but crowds returned to the streets in large numbers this week. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Dhaka on Saturday, with police largely monitoring the marches.
