Thousands of supporters attended Islamic funeral prayers for an opposition lawmaker yesterday, a day after he was killed by gunmen during a rally outside Bangla-desh's capital.
Ahsanullah Master, a lawmaker from the main opposition Awami League, was attending a rally of the party's labor wing in the industrial town of Tongi when about 15 gunmen opened fire, said party spokesman Saber Hossain Chowdhury.
Master died soon after he was brought to Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital with multiple bullet wounds to his chest.
Three other members of the party died from bullet wounds on the way to the hospital, police said.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack. The Awami League has blamed the killing on government supporters, while authorities say that it may be linked to an internal party feud.
At a news conference Friday, Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil said the killing was ``part of a conspiracy hatched by the top level of the government'' to undermine the opposition, which is campaigning for Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's resignation and general elections.
The opposition accuses Zia's administration of corruption, mismanagement and harassment of opponents. A Home Ministry press statement Friday said that an initial investigation suggested the killing could be the outcome of an alleged dispute over leadership of the party's labor wing. The opposition denounced the statement.
Also on Friday, at least one person was killed and dozens wounded when police fired shots and tear gas to disperse thousands of angry opposition supporters who took to the streets to protest the killing, news reports said.
The crowd attacked government offices and set two trains and a movie theater on fire, and destroyed dozens of vehicles in Tongi and adjoining areas, witnesses said.
The Awami League said it will organize a general strike today to protest the shooting.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS