At least 20 people were injured in clashes and police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds as thousands protested in the Bangladeshi capital and other parts of the country on Friday, calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.
The protesters were demanding justice for the families of the 150 people killed in violence during protests last month over a job quota system. Scores of youths marched in Dhaka with chants of "we want justice" and waved anti-government banners.
Elsewhere in the country, a district office of the ruling Awami League party, several other government offices, a police booth and motorcycles were set on fire, while armoured vehicles vandalised during demonstrations.
Police said they fired rubber bullets and tear gas as crowds attacked them in north-eastern town of Habibganj, and lobbed stun grenades to scatter protesters in the nearby city of Sylhet. A witness in Sylhet said about 20 people were injured.
The current unrest is the biggest test facing Hasina since deadly protests when she won a fourth-straight term in January elections that were boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Critics of Hasina and human rights groups accused her government of using excessive force.
Student groups led demonstrations last month against quotas in government jobs. Those demonstrations spiralled into violence that killed at least 150 people, injured thousands and led to about 10,000 arrests. The protests paused after the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas.
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