Hasina urges teens to go home amid violence

DHAKA: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged students Sunday to go home as police fired tear gas at teenage protesters during an eighth day of unprecedented demonstrations over road safety which have paralysed parts of Dhaka.

Students in their tens of thousands have brought parts of the capital to a standstill since two teenagers were killed by a speeding bus. The unrest quickly spread beyond the capital and authorities have shut down mobile internet services across swathes of the country, officials and local media said.

On Saturday the protests took a violent turn in Dhaka's Jigatala neighbourhood, with more than 100 people injured as police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators. A car carrying US ambassador Marcia Bernicat was also attacked by "armed men" but she escaped unscathed, the embassy said.

The violence continued Sunday with police firing tear gas into a large crowd marching toward an office of the ruling Awami League party, an AFP correspondent said. Dozens of protesters were attacked by people alleged to be ruling party activists, some armed with machetes, in Dhaka's Dhanmondi neighbourhood. Twelve were treated at Dhaka Medical Colleague Hospital, police inspector Bacchu Mia said.