DHAKA, Aug 21: The Bangladesh government ordered soldiers to leave a university campus on Tuesday, after two days of clashes between student protesters and police left more than 150 injured, officials and news reports said.
Police were among about 100 people hurt in Monday’s clashes on Dhaka University campus, local media reported.
The student protests — in defiance of emergency rules — were triggered by a dispute between students and soldiers on Monday during a soccer match on the campus in Dhaka, said university official A.F.M. Haider.
Clashes resumed on Tuesday when police tried to break up a group of more than 500 students demanding that the army withdraw from the campus, said university teacher Golam Rahman.
The unrest spread to other nearby campuses, where students boycotted classes and took to the streets shouting anti-government slogans, halting traffic and damaging dozens of vehicles.
At Dhaka College, near a busy downtown shopping area, riot police fired tear gas and used water canons to disperse stone-throwing protesters. The ensuing melee forced shops to close.—AP