HAKA (Reuters) – At least three people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Bangladesh yesterday, and over 100 protesters were injured as officials evicted the leader of the opposition from the house where she had lived for 40 years.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to clear demonstrators in Dhaka trying to prevent authorities from evicting former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia from her house.
At least 50 people were injured and more than 20 demonstrators detained in the capital Dhaka, police said.
Violence erupted in more than 20 other towns and dozens of people were injured in clashes with police. Around 50 people were injured in Serajganj, 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Dhaka, local television channels reported.
At least three people were killed and five, including a lawmaker of the ruling party, injured in the suicide bomb attack near Khustia, 300 km (190 miles) west of the capital Dhaka, police said.
The bomb was detonated at the residence of Afaz Uddin, an Awami League member of parliament. Police would not say whether they thought the attack was related to the widespread violence over Khaleda’s eviction from her home.
Police and witnesses said up to 4,000 protesters armed with sticks and stones set fire to vehicles and attacked officers near the headquarters of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party of former prime minister Khaleda.
Several thousand protesters skirmished with police close to Khaleda’s residence in the garrison area, and the clashes intensified as security forces cordoned off the building shortly before a High Court deadline for her to vacate the house.
Khaleda later told a news conference she had been forcibly evicted from the house where she had lived for 40 years.
“They entered my bedroom and ransacked all the furniture. They even beat my personal staff,” said a tearful Khaleda, speaking at her party office at Gulshan.
