Bombs kill 12 at Bangladesh Opposition rally

At least 12 people were killed and 100 wounded in a bomb attack yesterday on an Opposition rally in Bangladesh's capital, police and witnesses said.

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed had been addressing the crowd and her Awami League Party said the blasts, possibly caused by grenades, were an assassination attempt on her. She escaped with minor injuries.

The attack was the latest in a series in impoverished Bangladesh and the second deadly blast this month against the Awami League. A party leader was killed in the northeastern town of Sylhet two weeks ago.

"After one blast, I was lying in the street. Then, I heard seven or eight more blasts and something hit me in the head and I fainted," said an Awami League worker with a bandaged head after the Dhaka attack, giving his name only as Gaisuddin.

Reuters reporters at a government hospital where the injured were taken counted nine dead bodies from the blast site, including two women, lying in the hospital.

Opposition leaders and news organisations, including state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangtha (BSS) news agency, said at least three more people had died in the attack on the public meeting outside Sheikh Hasina's headquarters.

Police said at least 100 people were injured, including 17 policemen and one seriously hurt senior Awami League official.

The Awami League, which has staged strikes since February in its effort to remove Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and force early general elections, has in the past accused the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of "pre-planned murders of opposition leaders and activists."

The BNP has rejected the allegation.

The Awami League called for a two-day national strike on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest against the bomb attack.

In May, a bomb exploded near a mosque in Sylhet killing three people and wounded more than 50, including the British High Commissioner in Bangladesh. The government insists there is no known terror group operating in the country.

Relatives and Awami League leaders were at the Dhaka Medical College hospital, where there were chaotic scenes with crying relatives and wounded screaming with pain.

Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil said Hasina, president of the league, was "safe, thanks to Allah".

"Sheikh Hasina was the target of the blast," he said.

Her private secretary Alauddin Chowdhury told Reuters she had received minor cuts to her hand and one of her bodyguards was killed.

A Reuters cameraman at the scene said many of the injured were women activists and said he heard several blasts.

Wounded women activists were lying on the ground, many in blood-soaked saris. Hundreds of shoes littered the area.

Khaleda Zia was quoted by BSS condemning the "cowardly and heinous" bombing and expressing "deep shock" at the incident. She called for a thorough investigation to punish the culprits.

Awami League supporters have called for a strike in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar south of Dhaka and the port of Chittagong where dozens of vehicles were damaged by Hasina's party supporters yesterday.

In Dhaka, after the blasts, Awami League supporters burnt dozens of vehicles including a double-decker bus.

The BNP defeated the Awami League in elections in October 2001. New elections are not due until 2006.

"When Sheikh Hasina just finished her speech and was attempting to get down from the dais, several bombs exploded," Muzzafar Hussain Maya, an Awami League ex-minister told Reuters.

At least 20 people have died in bomb blasts and sporadic political violence this year.