Soldiers patrolled the streets of Bangladeshi cities on Saturday to quell unrest that began with student protests against the country’s government and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The protests have been ongoing for weeks and has escalated into violent clashes between police and protesters that have left at least 123 dead, according to AFP.
A curfew was imposed at midnight and the military has been deployed after police failed to end the unrest.
Initially on Saturday, the streets of the capital Dhaka were almost empty, but later in the day, thousands of protesters turned out and were met by police who fired into the crowds.
– It is anarchy in the country. They shoot at people indiscriminately, says protester Nazrul Islam.
The police state that during the violence this week, protesters vandalized and set fire to a number of buildings, including a television company and several government and police buildings. At least 300 police officers have been injured in clashes with the protesters, according to police spokesman Faruk Hossain.
The protesters are protesting a quota system for public sector jobs that favors groups allied with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She has ruled the country since 2009 and won a new term in January after a contested election process that was boycotted by the opposition.
Representative of the government and the students met on Friday in an attempt to find a solution. Among other things, the students demand that the criticized quota system be reformed. The country’s Justice Minister Anisul Huq said on Friday that the government was willing to discuss their demands.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is the main opposition party, supports the protests. But the BNP said in a statement that its supporters were not responsible for the violence and denied accusations that they were using the student protests for political purposes.
