DHAKA: Assailants wielding iron rods attacked the car of Bangladesh’s former prime minister and main opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Monday during an election rally and then shot at it as the vehicle sped away, but she was unhurt.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) spokesman Mohammad Shamsuddin told Reuters that she was addressing a rally for a mayoral election in Dhaka from her car when the men tried to attack it with rods and sticks.

Shots were fired at the bullet-proof vehicle as it drove off, he said.

A guard of Ms Zia and five other people were injured, he added.

The BNP called for a nationwide general strike outside Dhaka and Chittagong -- which both hold mayoral elections on April 28 -- to protest against the attack on its leader.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Political Adviser H.T. Imam said the BNP should take better security precautions in crowded urban areas because many Bangladeshis were angry with her over protests organised by her party.

More than 120 people have been killed and hundreds injured in months of political violence amid transport blockades and strikes by the opposition aimed at toppling the government.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2015

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