5 killed in violent anti-quota protests in Bangladesh

DHAKA — At least five people were killed and scores injured across Bangladesh on Tuesday (July 16) as young government supporters and police firing tear gas clashed with students protesting against a quota system for government jobs, police said.

Tens of thousands of students joined nationwide protests for a second day after more than 100 people were injured on Monday in rallies that blocked major highways and rail links.

They are the first significant protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government since she won a fourth straight term in January.

The protesters are angry over public sector job quotas, including a 30 per cent quota for family members of freedom fighters from the 1971 War of Independence, amid high youth unemployment.

Riot police fanned out at university campuses across the country in an effort to quell disturbances. In Rangpur in northwestern Bangladesh, the protests turned violent, police told Reuters.

"We had to use rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the unruly students who were hurling stones at us," Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Moniruzzaman said.

"We heard a protesting student died after he was taken to hospital. It was not immediately clear how he died," he said.

In the capital Dhaka, TV footage showed a heavy presence of police, wearing protective vests and helmets and armed with wooden sticks, outside the Dhaka University campus.

One student was found lying in a pool of blood and declared dead at city hospital, police said. Three people, including two students, were killed in the port city of Chittagong.

"We are not sure how they were killed as we didn't use any force in Chittagong," local police chief Saiful Islam said.

The Border Guard Bangladesh paramilitary