Dhaka, Aug 4 (EFE).- More than 50 people, including 14 police officers, have died during violent clashes in Bangladesh on Sunday between anti-government protesters and supporters of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, hospital officials and police told EFE.
More than 250 people have been killed since the protests began in July.
Sunday was marked by the worst violence in weeks with clashes across the country between anti-government protesters and supporters of the ruling Awami League.
EFE has confirmed at least 53 deaths, while some local media were reporting that as many as 88 people have died in the unrest.
Authorities have re-imposed an internet blackout and a curfew.
The violence comes after the leaders of the protest movement rejected an offer from Hasina on Saturday to open talks with the students, who instead demanded that the prime minister step down over the killings and the government’s crackdown.
In a statement, the student protesters promised to ensure the “fall of the government and abolition of a fascist system.”
The protests began in early July after the High Court ordered the government to restore a 30% employment quota for descendants of freedom fighters from Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war.
Protesters argued that the quota system was discriminatory and benefited supporters of the Awami League, while the government defended it as a way to honor veterans of the independence war.
The protests escalated on July 15, with the first deaths reported the following day. A curfew was imposed at midnight on July 19, and the army was called in to control the situation.
The government launched a crackdown on protesting students and opposition political parties, arresting over 9,000 people last week, according to police and rights groups. EFE
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