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Clashes rocked the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka’s main commercial district on Wednesday as police battled with Islamist protesters demanding a halt to the country’s war crimes trials.
At least a dozen people were injured by rubber bullets during the clashes, Dhaka Medical College emergency officer Robiul, who uses one name, told reporters.

Police and witnesses said the clashes at Motijheel commercial area, home to top banks, the main stock market and insurers, began after the supporters of Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami tried to hold marches.
They torched a bus and attacked vehicles with police reacting by firing rubber bullets, witnesses said.
Television footage showed police in armoured vehicles and wielding fire-arms chasing protesters.
“At least 100 people have been arrested,” sub-inspector Rafiqul Islam told reporters.
The violence was the latest to hit the Bangladesh capital. On Tuesday, more than a dozen people were injured, including the editor of a leading daily, in similar clashes between police and protesters.
Demonstrations over the trials have left seven people dead since last month.
The protesters have been demanding a halt to the trials of Jamaat leaders for crimes including genocide and rape they are alleged to have committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
A senior Jamaat leader was sentenced to life imprisonment last week for mass murder.
Eight other Jamaat officials, including its leader and deputy leader, are also being tried along with two officials of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The opposition has called the trials politically-motivated and part of a wider vendetta against their leaders.
The government says the trials are needed to heal the wounds of the nine-month war in which it says three million people were killed, many by pro-Pakistani militia whose members allegedly included Jamaat officials.
Independent estimates put the figure much lower.


Dozen injured in Bangladesh war crimes protest

Jammat-e-Islami activists shout slogans during a rally in Dhaka on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Bangladeshi riot policemen chase Jamaat-e-Islami activists during a demonstration against the conviction of their leader, in Dhaka, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

A Bangladeshi policeman and government supporters beat a Jamaat-e-Islami activist. Photo: AP 

Bangladeshi riot police patrol during a demonstration by the country’s largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami against the conviction of their leader. Photo: AP

100,000 demand ban on Bangladesh Islamic party

People sing Bangladesh's national anthem as they attend a mass demonstration at Shahbagh intersection on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Riots erupt in Bangladesh after Islamist leader jailed for life

A member of an elite police unit swings a baton into an activist after he was arrested for vandalising a car during a strike in Dhaka protesting at the jailing of Islamist leader Abdul Quader Molla. Photo: Reuters

Abdul Quader Molla is taken away after his sentencing. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

Clashes rocked the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka’s main commercial district on Wednesday as police battled with Islamist protesters demanding a halt to the country’s war crimes trials.
