Troops sent to quell riots over war crimes tribunal

Seven people died in similar clashes in the north-west.

With the latest casualties, the death toll in four days of rioting has climbed to 58.

The clashes started on Thursday after a war crimes tribunal sentenced Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee to death for atrocities committed during Bangladesh's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

Bogra district police superintendent Mokbul Hossain said that the deployment of troops had been necessary after five men died in the fighting.

Mr Hossain said that violence erupted after Jamaat activists attacked four police outposts and an office of the ruling Awami League and torched the home of a local ruling party leader.

Authorities banned all gatherings in Bogra to stop any further escalation of violence.

Separately, three people, including a child, died in violence in the north-western district of Rajshahi.

Another three people were killed in clashes between police and Jamaat activists in Joypurhar district and a policeman was killed in similar clashes in western Jhenaidah district.

In Dhaka, schools and most businesses remained closed while traffic on the usually clogged streets was thin during the first day of a two-day nationwide strike called by the Islamists.

Thousands of soldiers and police patrolled the streets.

The UN, the US and New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch have all expressed their concerns over the violence and urged all sides to stop the fighting.