DHAKA, 22 August 2004 — At least 14 people were killed and over 300 injured when a series of bombs and grenades ripped through an opposition Awami League rally in the Bangladesh capital yesterday afternoon. The attacks triggered a wave of violent protests.
The blasts occurred as opposition leader Hasina Wajed was addressing the rally from atop a truck outside her party’s headquarters in central Dhaka. She was unhurt, her party said.
Only 10 of the dead could be identified until late in the evening. Police identified them as Rahima Afroz, Kala Sentu, Kasem Mia, Moazzem, Mahbub, Jahed Ali, Abul Kasem, Ada Rafiq, Sufia and Rina.
The death toll could increase as some of the injured were in critical condition, hospital doctors said, adding that one opposition member, Ivy Rahman, had lost both her legs. Other injured Awami League officials included Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Mohammad Nasim and Abu Sayeed.
Five policemen, who were deputed to guard Hasina, were also injured in the serial blasts.
No group claimed responsibility for the blasts at Bangabandhu Avenue, but Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil claimed they targeted Hasina.
Visibly shaken, Hasina crouched low in the truck soon after the first blast occurred around 5.25 p.m., a witness said.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia condemned the “dastardly attack on a political rally,” and said her government will try to find those responsible.
There was chaos at the blast scene. “People were covered with blood. Many injured were crying for help,” said Mohammad Yasin, a rickshaw driver. “It was so ghastly and so terrible that I’ve no words to describe,” said Farook Khan, an opposition lawmaker who was standing close to Hasina.
“It seemed to me that some of the bombs were thrown from multistory buildings near the scene,” he said, and added that at least 15,000 people were at the rally when the explosions occurred.
Soon after the blasts, angry Awami League activists burned down dozens of cars and buses around Bangabandhu Avenue and police fired tear gas to disperse the mobs. Paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles troops were called out to guard important installations and patrol the city streets as tensions ran high.
Violence spread to about dozen other cities and towns, where protesters smashed vehicles and attacked shops, witnesses said. Security was stepped up across the country, authorities said.
Chittagong Mayor A.B.M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury called for a general strike in the southeastern port city today. The Awami League was also expected to call for a nationwide strike.
The Awami League has staged a series of general strikes since January. The stoppages at the start of the year were part of the League’s stepped-up campaign to oust the government, a four-party Islamist-allied coalition led by Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The opposition accused the government of failing to crack down on corruption and crime, while the government said it was working to remedy a difficult situation inherited from the previous Awami League administration.
Yesterday’s explosions followed two separate blasts earlier this month in the northeastern town of Sylhet. One person died in each blast. The rally had been called to protest those blasts.
