Bangladesh opposition calls strike over 'mass killing'

DHAKA: Bangladeshi opposition parties have called a two-day nationwide shutdown from Wednesday to protest what they describe as the "mass killing" in a crackdown by security forces.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies called the strike after saying that hundreds of people died on Sunday and early Monday, when police broke up a mass rally in central Dhaka.

According to a tally compiled after talking to police and medical sources, 38 people are known to have been killed since Sunday afternoon when police first confronted activists who had blockaded the capital.

The protesters are trying to pressure the government into introducing a new blasphemy law and have been calling for the execution of bloggers whom they accuse of having insulted the Prophet Mohammed SAWW.

A border guard succumbed to his head injuries Tuesday to raise the tally from Monday's 37, police inspector Mozammel Haq told, adding dozens were still being treated in hospital.

The country's most prominent daily Prothom Alo said at least 49 people have died in the clashes, some of the fiercest street violence in decades.

However, the BNP says the real number of dead runs into the "hundreds", accusing the authorities of concealing bodies but without giving any evidence.

"We have called two days of nationwide strike to protest the mass killing of Hefazat-e-Islam workers and supporters on Sunday and Monday," BNP spokesman Khandaker Mosharraf told on Tuesday.

The strike will begin at 6:00 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday and end at 6:00 pm on Thursday, Mosharraf added.

Police on Tuesday announced charges against 194 activists of the Hefazat-e-Islam (Protectorate of Islam), a group behind the massive protests.