Bangladesh soldiers out in force as PM cancels foreign trip
The Peninsula
Dhaka: Soldiers were out in force Saturday in cities around Bangladesh after another day of lethal clashes between student protesters and police promp...
Dhaka: Soldiers were out in force Saturday in cities around Bangladesh after another day of lethal clashes between student protesters and police prompted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to cancel foreign visits.
This week's violence has killed at least 105 people so far, according to an AFP count of victims reported by hospitals, and poses a significant challenge to Hasina's autocratic government after 15 years in office.
A government curfew went into effect at midnight and the premier's office asked the military to deploy troops after police again failed to subdue mayhem.
"The government has decided to impose a curfew and deploy the military in aid of the civilian authorities," Hasina's press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP.
Streets of the capital Dhaka were almost deserted at daybreak, with troops on foot and in armoured personnel carriers patrolling the sprawling megacity of 20 million.