Deadly violence continues in Bangladesh, 46 killed, hundreds injured

Police say security forces clashed with stone-throwing protesters from an Islamic party in southern Bangladesh, leaving one person dead and several others injured.

Police used tear gas Saturday to stop supporters from Jamaat-e-Islami party from smashing vehicles and blocking roads in Chittagong district. The area is 216 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Dhaka.

One person was killed and about a dozen were injured in the fighting, said a local police official speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Rioting broke out in Bangladesh on Thursday after a war crimes tribunal gave a death sentence to Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, for atrocities linked to the country's 1971 independence war.

The violence has left at least 45 dead and hundreds injured.

Violence continued unabated in Bangladesh for the second day today as the death toll rose to at least 46 in clashes that erupted after a top leader of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami was sentenced to death for "crimes against humanity" during the 1971 liberation war.

Fresh clashes today claimed three lives in Gaibandha and Chapainawabganj districts while one policeman succumbed to his wounds sustained in yesterday's clashes.

With violence showing no signs of abating, paramilitary border guards have been deployed across the country to beef up security and ease tension that has gripped the nation.

Violence broke out after 73-year-old Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), was sentenced to death by International Crimes Tribunal yesterday.

At least 42 people were killed yesterday in rioting triggered by the death sentence to Sayedee, who was found guilty of eight counts out of 20, involving rape, mass killings and atrocities during the 1971 freedom war against Pakistan.

Officials said that law enforcement agencies appeared to be the prime target of the right-wing JI activists.

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