Dhaka: Violent clashes between rival political activists left several people injured in the Bangladeshi capital yesterday during a crippling nationwide strike over electoral reforms, witnesses said.
The clashes occurred in central Dhaka between the supporters of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and the activists of former military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad, said an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Ershad's Jatiya Party is participating in a nationwide strike to demand the resignation of election officials. Zia's supporters are opposing the shutdown.
The violence broke out when several hundred supporters of Zia's four-party coalition gathered close to a rally of Ershad's supporters. Riot police used batons to quell the fighting.
The clashes came as a nationwide strike to force election reforms paralysed traffic and business in Bangladesh for the third straight day yesterday, after violent clashes left two demonstrators dead and dozens injured on Tuesday.
The violence occurred despite an interim government's pledge that it was nearing a solution to the impasse over election commissioners installed by the former prime minister. A 14-party alliance says the commissioners are biased and want them ousted.
Thousands of slogan-chanting protesters choked the streets and highways leading into the capital, Dhaka - cutting the city of 10 million people off from the rest of the country. Similar disruptions have been reported in more than 60 other cities and towns, ATN Bangla TV station reported.
On Tuesday, armed partisans of Zia attacked a procession of former supporters who broke away to form a new party in southeastern Chittagong city, said Mohammad Ali, a spokesman for the breakaway faction.
A statement issued by Zia's party denied responsibility for the attack.
Two supporters of the breakaway Liberal Democratic Party were badly beaten and died later in a state-run hospital in Chittagong, said a doctor there, Ajoy Deb.
The Liberal Democratic Party is not part of the 14-party alliance led by Shaikh Hasina, but has extended support for the strikes. The attack in Chittagong left 25 people hurt, including four policemen, as rival activists fought with rocks and sticks.
In Bogra, north of Dhaka, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a fight between rival supporters that injured about 25 people, the domestic United News of Bangladesh news agency said.
Also on Tuesday, supporters and opponents of the strike briefly clashed at the Dhaka University campus, ATN Bangla network reported. At least three homemade bombs - explosives in small tin pots - went off during the melee.
No one was hurt.
Schools and stores remained shut yesterday, and demonstrators continued to barricade rail stations, disrupting train services, and blocked cars and public buses.
The 14-party alliance, led by Hasina's Awami League party, resumed an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday after the interim government failed to meet a Sunday deadline.
