Two Bangladeshi activists killed in anti-government protests

DHAKA: Two Bangladeshi opposition activists were killed on Tuesday after police clashed with hundreds of anti-government protesters launching a three-day strike blocking roads and railways after their top leaders were charged with murder.

Police said violence broke out in multiple cities and towns as members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, the country´s largest Islamist party, demanded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down from power ahead of elections due by the end of January. The BNP said it launched its transport blockade after police broke up a rally on Saturday, when more than 100,000 supporters of the two major opposition parties demanded Hasina allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government.

On Sunday, police charged BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and more than 150 other top party members with the murder of a policeman during the demonstrations.

The violence has sparked international concern, with seven countries including the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and Japan urging both sides to “exercise restraint, eschew violence and work together” for a free and fair vote.

Al Amin, deputy police chief in the town of Kuliarchar, north of the capital Dhaka, said two BNP members were killed, but that details were not clear on how they died. BNP official Shariful Alam said the two were “shot dead by the police” during a rally with more than 2,000 protesters.