Bangladesh poll violence kills 11, Opposition alleges rigging

At least 11 people have been killed in local election-related violence in Bangladesh, seven of them shot dead by security forces, the police said on Wednesday as a political crisis deepened.

The Opposition said there had also been widespread vote-rigging in the elections for thousands of local councils across the country, which began on Tuesday and will run for four months.

Impoverished Bangladesh has been plagued by unrest since 2014 elections that the opposition boycotted and experts say the gridlock has led to a rise in radicalism in the conservative nation, which has seen a spate of killings of atheist bloggers, religious minorities and foreigners.

Much of the latest violence was in the southern coastal town of Mathabria, where clashes broke out when thousands of ruling party supporters attacked police and border guards taking ballot boxes to the government headquarters.

“A magistrate ordered the shooting and officers fired at thousands of unruly people who attacked us with machetes, rocks and sticks,” district police chief Walid Hossain told AFP.

“Three people died on the spot and two on the way to hospital,” he said, adding that another five people were hurt.

Another police official said all the victims were supporters of the ruling Awami League who had apparently attacked police fearing a local loss for their party.

Security forces also shot and killed two people in the southeastern coastal town of Sabrang when supporters of a rebel ruling party candidate tried to snatch ballot boxes from paramilitary forces, local police chief Kabir Hossain told AFP.

Four more died in other parts of the country as voting began Tuesday in the elections for more than 6,000 local councils across the country.