Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a political rally in Bangladesh, killing one person and wounding two others, including a candidate, officials said Thursday, after parties began campaigning for historic elections.
Major parties opened their campaigns Wednesday for elections scheduled for February 2026, the first since a deadly uprising last year toppled the autocratic government of former ruler Sheikh Hasina.
The campaign turned violent almost immediately.
The shooting took place on Wednesday at a rally of the powerful Bangladesh National Party (BNP), attended by hundreds of people in the port city of Chattogram, police said.
Senior BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said: “It was an attempt to destabilize politics and disrupt the elections.”
The main parties have revealed their candidate lists, and the BNP said this week that 80-year-old leader and three-time prime minister Khaleda Zia will run again, as will her son, Tarique Rahman.
The BNP is widely considered the favorite in the polls.
Police said the gunmen quickly opened fire on a crowd of hundreds at the rally, but insisted the BNP candidate was not the target.
“The miscreants… shot at their target and fled in an instant,” police officer Hasib Aziz told reporters late on Wednesday.
Candidate Ershad Ullah was shot and wounded, along with a supporter. A third man was killed.
“We urge candidates to inform the police station at least 24 hours before any election campaign, so that more police can be deployed,” Aziz said.
‘Show moderation’
The South Asian nation of about 170 million people has been mired in political turmoil since Hasina was ousted by the student-led uprising in August 2024.
The campaign is not technically official because the electoral commission is not expected to announce the voting day until December.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, an 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and senior adviser, has repeatedly promised that elections will be held in February.
Yunus ordered an investigation into the shooting, his media team said in a statement.
The interim government “calls on all political actors and their supporters to remain calm, show restraint and ensure that the February general elections take place in an atmosphere of peace, dignity and justice,” it said Thursday.
Bangladesh police yesterday offered cash rewards for the return of more than 1,300 machine guns, rifles and pistols looted during last year’s uprising.
Lieutenant General Md Mainur Rahman told an army press conference on Wednesday that the army would provide security to ensure peaceful elections and that they would return to barracks after the elections.
“We hope that stability will be strengthened, law and order will remain normal and we will return to the cantonment once the elections are held,” Rahman said.
Bangladesh’s largest Islamist political party, Jamaat-i-Islami, said it had finalized a preliminary list of candidates and was “working with other parties on the prospect of seat-sharing,” leader Abdullah Mohammad Taher said. AFP.
