Five more people were killed on Monday in Bangladesh in continuing protests sparked by the execution of top Islamist leader, Abdul Quader Molla, as the prime minister warned of a crackdown.
The deaths reportedly happened overnight in southeastern district of Satkhira. Police said demonstrators, some wielding homemade bombs, attacked security officials.
The clash was the latest violence since Molla, a top figure in the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged last week for crimes against humanity dating back to the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Since the execution, at least 25 people have been killed in street violence and clashes with authorities. Another six people were killed on Sunday, including four in the northern town of Patgram, and a further seven died elsewhere overnight, police said.
The deaths occurred as Islamist supporters enforced a nationwide strike over the execution of Molla.
“Police fired rifles after Jamaat protesters torched at least 20 houses belonging to ruling party supporters,” government administrator Habibur Rahman told reporters of the violence in Patgram, adding: “We have banned protests and gatherings in the area to prevent further violence.”
Molla was the first person to be convicted of war crimes and sent to the gallows since the country gained independence in 1971. The government, led by the Awami League party, has held war crimes trials in keeping with a pledge it made during the 2008 election. However, some international rights groups have criticised the trials, arguing that they are politically motivated and haven’t met international legal standards, charges the government has disputed.
Molla, 65, was dubbed the “Butcher of Mirpur,” a reference to a suburb in the capital of Dhaka where he reportedly led local pro-Pakistani militia in killing dozens of people, including women and children. He was one of five leaders sentenced to death by the Bangladesh government’s war crimes tribunal, which the country’s opposition says is on a hunt to wipe out its leadership.
Molla’s execution has heightened tensions in the impoverished, politically polarised South Asian nation. The country has seen a rise in violence in advance of divisive elections scheduled for next month.
