Bangladesh’s main opposition party starts a 48-hour general strike ahead of Sunday’s election

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s main opposition party on Saturday started a 48-hour general strike on the eve on a general election, calling on people to boycott the vote because it says the government of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can’t guarantee its fairness.

Hasina is seeking to return to power for a fourth consecutive term. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former premier Khaleda Zia, has vowed to disrupt the election through the strike and boycott.

Campaigning in the nation of 169 million people has been marred by violence, with at least 15 people killed since October. At least 18 arson attacks were reported across the country between Friday midnight and Saturday night, Talha Bin Jasim, an official with the Media Cell of the Fire Service and Civil Defense in Dhaka, told The Associated Press by phone.

At least 10 of the attacks targeted polling stations, he said, with police calling them acts of sabotage.

Detectives arrested seven men belonging to the BNP and its youth wing for their alleged involvement in an arson attack on a passenger train on Friday night in which four people were killed, according to Harun Or Rashid, the head of the Detective Branch in the capital, Dhaka.

They were detained in separate raids in the city, he said Saturday, adding that the suspects held a meeting online two days ago about committing such attacks on polling stations and trains.

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy but has a history of military coups and assassinations.

On Saturday morning, a small group of BNP supporters marched across the Shahbagh neighborhood in the capital, Dhaka, calling on people to join the strike. Another rally by about 200 left-wing protesters took place outside