Thousands of police and paramilitary troops patrolled the capital yesterday on the second day of a general strike called to protest a grenade attack on an opposition political rally that killed 20 people and wounded hundreds.
Schools and shops remained closed and most traffic halted across Bangladesh because of the strike called by the country's main opposition Awami League and several leftist parties.
Train services were disrupted throughout the country as demonstrators squatted on railroads or cut tracks, spokesman for Bangladesh Railways Mosta-e-Jamil said.
No clashes were immediately reported yesterday.
But strike-related violence between police and protesters left more than 300 people injured since Monday, said the Ittefaq daily. Nearly 100 demonstrators were detained on the first day of the two-day strike on Tuesday, a police official said on condition of anonymity.
Fearing renewed violence, authorities ordered nearly 7,000 police and paramilitary troops to patrol the capital, Dhaka.
In Dhaka, the streets were empty of cars and buses, with many commuters resorting to rickshaws that were allowed to operate.
A group calling itself Hikmatul Zihad claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail message to the Prothom Alo newspaper and threatened further attacks against Hasina.
"Don't think that Sheikh Hasina is out of danger. We missed our previous chance ... We are coming and this time we will accomplish our target within seven days," the e-mail said, according to the Dhaka-based daily's chief reporter, Probash Amin.
The newspaper said it had informed police investigators about the message.
No other details were immediately available.
Hasina, who was unharmed, has blamed Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's administration for the attack. The government has denied involvement.
The Awami League has shortened yesterday's strike to half a day to allow people to attend the funeral of a senior opposition leader, spokesman Abdul Jalil said.
Ivy Rahman, who lost her legs in the grenade attack, died Tuesday, doctors and her family said.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also