Dhaka: Thousands of students armed with sticks and rocks battled with armed police in Dhaka as the Bangladeshi government cut off certain mobile internet access to quell protests over civil sector hiring quotas, Al Jazeera reported.
At least 17 people were killed in fights at protests across Bangladesh on Thursday, according to local media, as police shut down cellphone services across the majority of the South Asian country, according to Al Jazeera.
Eleven individuals were murdered in skirmishes with police in Dhaka, including a bus driver who was carried to the hospital with a bullet wound in his chest and a student, according to police sources. Hundreds more were wounded.
Police sources say two persons were slain in Narayanganj, a city just southeast of Dhaka.
In Chittagong – officially known as Chattogram – in eastern Bangladesh, two more deaths were reported.
Witnesses told media that police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protestors who were torching vehicles, police posts and other enterprises in Dhaka.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the junior information technology minister, said mobile internet had been “temporarily suspended” owing to “various rumours” and the “unstable situation created” on social media.
Services would be restored once the situation returned to normal, he added.
Hours later, other Bangladeshi news websites, including The Daily Star and Dhaka Tribune, appear to remain down.
Two days before, internet service providers had disabled access to Facebook, the demonstrators’ primary organising tool.
Outgoing Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley called for a quick resolution of the present situation. “All friends and partners of Bangladesh want to see a quick resolution of the present situation and the avoidance of further violence and bloodshed,” he said.
The US embassy here has issued a “demonstration alert” for its citizens living in Dhaka and across the country saying the situation is extremely volatile.
The unrest began on July 1, when university students hit the streets demanding the scrapping of quotas in government jobs.
Last month, the High Court reinstated a rule that provides for reservation of 30 percent of the posts for children and grandchildren of those who took part in the country’s liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.
According to reports, around 56 percent of government jobs are now reserved for various categories of citizens in the South Asian nation which has a high unemployment rate.
