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10 killed in Bangladesh local elections violence

Sunday, 29 May 2016 1:58 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 29 May 2016 1:58 PM ]

A Bangladeshi man injured in electoral violence is being carried on a stretcher at a hospital in Chittagong, April 4, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

At least 10 people, including two electoral candidates, have lost their lives in different parts of Bangladesh during clashes among the supporters of rival parties in local elections.

According to police officials, the fatalities occurred late Saturday after the fifth phase of elections for Bangladesh’s local governments.

Three people were killed in the central Jamalpur district, in northern Bangladesh, and another seven elsewhere around the country, police said, without identifying the other places.

Thousands of people have reportedly been wounded in the violence.

Jamalpur’s deputy police chief said hundreds of armed supporters of a candidate from the ruling Awami League clashed with rivals supporting a defeated candidate, which prompted the police to open fire in order to bring the situation under control. It was not immediately clear whether the police shootings also resulted in any casualties or not.

Police added that a candidate named Kamal Uddin from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was stabbed to death in the city of Comilla while another, identified as Md Yasin, was killed in the city of Chittagong.

The BNP has accused the ruling party of tampering with the votes.

The opposition party says there has been widespread intimidation of opposition candidates and the looting of ballot boxes by ruling party supporters.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi NGO, Election Working Group (EWG), has said that the country’s election commission has “utterly failed to conduct free and fair polls” due to a lack of authority over police and local officials.

The final phase of the elections is scheduled to be held next month.

Over the previous four phases of the elections since March, some 82 people were reportedly killed and several thousands were injured in similar acts of violence.

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