More than 100 people have been injured in clashes in Bangladesh during a second strike in less than a week called by the country's main opposition party to protest at a grenade attack that nearly killed its leader.
The dawn-to-dusk strike called by the Awami League shut shops, schools and businesses across the turbulent Muslim-majority democracy on Saturday.A week ago, at least seven grenades were thrown at a crowded rally that opposition leader and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was addressing in the capital, Dhaka. Nineteen people were killed and more than 150 wounded in blasts.Hasina's Awami League launched a wave of strikes and marches to protest against the blasts and the coalition government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.Khaleda and Hasina are bitter rivals who have not spoken for 14 years.The worst violence erupted on Saturday in Dhunat, a small town northwest of Dhaka, where police fired blanks to disperse clashing groups of Awami League and ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists.At least 30 people were hurt, including a policeman.Another 30 people were injured in clashes in Birganj, some 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Dhaka. Elsewhere, some 40 other people were injured.Police said more than 200 people were detained."We will call for more protests after today's strike despite the government's efforts to obstruct us from holding peaceful protests," Abdus Shaheed, a senior Awami League, lawmaker, said.Officials say the police did not obstruct peaceful protests and acted only when they turned violent.