DHAKA: Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at hundreds of religious hardliners who attacked Ahmadis in northern Bangladesh on Tuesday, leaving 25 people injured.

The clashes erupted after days of tensions over a planned convention of the Ahmadi community in the town of Ahmadnagar. The hardliners demanded the event be cancelled.

There are an estimated 100,000 Ahmadis in Bangladesh.

Police said several groups have been holding protests against the Ahmadis’ convention, scheduled to start in just over a week.

“Some 700-800 men wielding sticks and batons marched towards Ahmadnagar and clashed with the Ahmadis,” a police official said.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to “maintain law and order”, he said, adding that 20 police and five Ahmadis were injured.

The spokesman for Ahmadi community said seven of its members were injured, three critically.

The last few decades have seen a number of attacks targeting Ahmadis in Bangladesh.

The so-called Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the authorities blamed a homegrown militant group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which is accused of killing scores of Hindus, Christians, Sufis and Shias.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2019