DHAKA, Sept 1: Bangladesh police clashed with members of the main opposition Awami League as a country-wide general strike called by the party took hold early on Sunday.

The strike, called after a Friday mob attack on a convoy of cars carrying opposition leader Sheikh Hasina, coincides with the anniversary celebrations of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which the opposition has blamed for the attack.

“The situation is very tense and could turn violent if the activists of the rival parties faced down during the strike,” one police officer said. “We are on a high alert.”

Witnesses said around 20 activists of Hasina’s Awami League party, including three women, were detained after they clashed with police outside the party’s head office in Dhaka.

Some protesters suffered minor injuries as police used batons to disperse them, photographers on the scene said.

Awami leaders said police cordoned off the party office and chased away activists gathering outside. Police also raided homes of several former ministers late on Saturday, Azad said but gave no details.—Reuters