Prime Minister Hasina said that the vandals in Bangladesh in the name of protest are not students but terrorists and asked people to suppress it with a firm hand.

Dhaka: At least 18 people were killed and dozens injured in violent clashes between protesters and supporters of the ruling Awami League in Bangladesh on Sunday amid protests over government job quotas and demands for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation.

A fresh round of clashes erupted days after more than 200 people were killed in violent clashes between police and mostly student protesters demanding an end to a controversial quota system that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for relatives of Bangladesh's independence war veterans. In 1971.

Clashes broke out this morning when protesters who participated in a non-cooperation program demanding the government's resignation faced opposition from Awami League, Chhatra League and Jubo League activists.

The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported, “At least 18 people were killed and many others injured in a series of deadly clashes in several parts of the country centered around the non-cooperation movement under the banner of the Anti-Apartheid Student Movement. The Home Ministry has decided to impose an indefinite nationwide curfew from 6 pm on Sunday.

Prime Minister Hasina's appeal to citizens

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hasina said that the vandals in Bangladesh in the name of protest are not students but terrorists and asked people to suppress it with a firm hand. According to sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Hasina has called a meeting of the National Committee on Security at Gana Bhavan. She said that it is not students who vandalize in the name of protest but terrorists across the country.

She said, “I appeal to the countrymen to suppress these terrorists firmly.

The meeting was attended by Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, RAB, BGB, and other top security officials.

The meeting took place amid renewed violence in many parts of the country. In Rangpur, four Awami League supporters were killed and over 100 injured, while two each were killed in Bogra and Magura, where a Chhatra Dal leader was among the dead, the paper added.

In Sirajganj, at least four people were killed and several injured in a series of clashes between protesters, Awami League activists and police, it said.

Growing protests in Bangladesh

In Comilla, a Youth Dal worker was killed and 15 people, including three children, were injured in clashes between the Awami League and protesters, the paper said. Most of the shops and malls in Dhaka were closed during the protest. Hundreds of students and businessmen had gathered at Shahbagh in Dhaka, bringing traffic to a standstill in all directions.

Protesters under the banner of anti-discrimination student movement chanted for Prime Minister Hasina's resignation and justice for those killed in the recent violence surrounding the quota reform protests, Bdnews24 news portal reported.

On the first day of the non-cooperation movement, protesters also gathered at Science Lab Chowk in the capital. He gave anti-government slogans.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, several vehicles at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were set ablaze by unidentified people on Sunday. People carrying sticks were seen vandalizing private cars, ambulances, motorcycles and buses inside the hospital premises, creating fear among patients, their attendants, doctors and staff, the paper said.

Protesters have rejected Hasina's invitation for dialogue aimed at stemming the escalating violence and have consolidated their demands into a collective call for the government's resignation.

The protest coordinators have called upon students from schools, colleges, universities, private universities and madrassas as well as workers, businessmen, political activists and other public members to participate in the agitation.

(with input from agencies)