Dhaka

Thousands left homeless as fire in Bangladesh slum destroys 1,500 shanties

A fire in a crowded slum in Bangladesh's capital has burned or damaged 1,500 shanties, leaving thousands homeless, authorities said Wednesday. No casualties were reported. The blaze, which began Tuesday evening at the Korail slum in Dhaka, was doused Wednesday after 16 hours, said Rashed Bin Khalid, a duty officer at the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defense. The fire service's director, Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, said about 1,500 shanties were burned or damaged in the blaze and thousands remained homeless. According to official data, about 60,000 families many of them climate refugees live in the slum which has an area of more than 160 acres (65 hectares). The slum straddles Dhaka's upscale Gulshan and Banani neighbourhoods, and it is surrounded by clusters of high-rise apartment and office buildings. Heavy smoke blanketed the area as flames engulfed the dwellings overnight. On Wednesday, the residents who lost their homes were desperate to collect their ...

Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death in Bangladesh: A turning point in Dhaka’s political crisis

A Bangladesh tribunal has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity linked to last year’s student protest crackdown. The verdict, delivered in absentia

Sporadic violence reported as B'desh awaits Hasina's verdict amid security

Bangladesh enforced heightened security across Dhaka and other regions overnight amid sporadic arson and crude bomb attacks ahead of Monday's verdict by a special tribunal against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a case of alleged crimes against humanity. Authorities ordered strict military, paramilitary and police vigil after reports that Hasina's now-disbanded Awami League had announced a two-day shutdown ahead of the International Crimes TribunalBangladesh (ICT-BD) verdict. Unidentified people on Sunday night set on fire the vehicle dumping corner of a police station complex and detonated two crude bombs outside the residence of an advisory council member of interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus, besides triggering explosions at several intersections in the capital. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) asked its personnel to shoot violent protesters on sight as tensions spiralled. ICT-BD prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Hasina, 78. I stated over the .

Bangladesh on alert as tribunal sets verdict date for deposed PM Hasina

The Bangladesh capital on Thursday woke up to heightened security vigil over the Dhaka lockdown call by deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's now disbanded Awami League, coinciding with a tribunal's planned announcement of a verdict date against her. The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) is set to go ahead with its scheduled task, a prosecution team member of the special court briefly said. Authorities called up army troops, paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police in riot gear to spread a security blanket in and around the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) complex, while their security vigil amid the Awami League prompted thousands to stay indoors. Witnesses and reports said Dhaka streets looked unusually empty, though many commuters stepped out of their homes and cautiously headed to workplaces and schools. However, many private institutions, including universities, preferred to operate online, fearing the outbreak of violence. "We are hearing all kinds o

Flight from Delhi delayed due to Dhaka airport closure: Air India

Air India's flight from Delhi to Dhaka was delayed on Saturday due to closure of the airport in the Bangladesh capital following a fire incident. On Saturday afternoon, a massive fire broke out at the cargo complex of Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, forcing authorities to suspend all flight operations. Air India was scheduled to operate the Delhi-Dhaka flight in the evening. "Due to closure of Dhaka airport for all flight operations, flight AI237 scheduled to operate from Delhi to Dhaka on 18 October has been delayed. "Consequently, the return flight AI238 set to operate from Dhaka to Delhi will also have a delayed departure," the airline said in a statement. While regretting the inconvenience caused to passengers, the airline said ground teams at Delhi and Dhaka are offering immediate assistance to them. Apart from Air India, IndiGo also operates flights to Dhaka.

Major fire breaks out at Dhaka airport, flight operations suspended

There were no immediate reports of casualties; units from the Bangladesh Fire Service, Civil Aviation Authority, the Bangladesh Air Force and the Navy were jointly battling the fire

Bangladeshi court jails 1971 war veterans, professor on terrorism charges

A Bangladeshi court on Friday sent 16 people, including several 1971 Liberation War veterans, to jail under the tough Anti-Terrorism Act, a day after a mob allegedly disrupted their scheduled public discussion in the capital. Magistrate Farzana Haque ordered them to be sent to jail after they were produced in court nearly 24 hours after their detention. Police had initially detained them for their protection from public unrest on Thursday. Dhaka police after midnight Thursday said the detainees were being charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 without further elaboration. The initial case document submitted in the court suggested at least six of the 16 arrested were in their 70s. "For the sake of a proper investigation, which is yet to be completed, and the identity and address of the accused is yet to be verified, it is absolutely necessary' to keep the accused in custody," read the police application submitted in court. According to media reports, former minister and 1971

Reckoning in Dhaka: A year since the coup, Bangladesh is in a shambles

An indecisive "interim" government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is increasingly prey to non-democratic Islamists, who envisage a Bangladeshi caliphate. None of this augurs well for the country

Year after uprising, Bangladesh struggles to find political stability

Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell silent. In that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister. A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa's chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead. Meherunnesa, 23, was killed on Aug 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina's ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after ..

Govt to send burn-specialist team to Dhaka to treat air crash victims

The deployment of the medical team comes as part of India's response to the recent fighter jet crash in the Diabari area of Bangladesh's Dhaka

Bangladesh Air Force jet crash: Death toll rises to 27, 170 injured

The death toll from the crash of the Bangladesh Air Force training fighter jet into a school building in Dhaka rose to 27 as more people succumbed to their injuries, authorities said on Tuesday. The F-7 BGI aircraft, a training fighter jet manufactured in China, experienced a "mechanical fault" moments after takeoff and crashed into the two-storey building of Milestone School and College at Diabari in Dhaka's Uttara area on Monday. The toll is now 27, and 25 of them are children, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus's special adviser, Saidur Rahman, told reporters. About 170 were injured, with several of them said to be critical. Wails of despair and pain reverberate at hospitals where patients were treated with burn injuries. Twenty deaths were reported initially, and seven died of their injuries overnight. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Mohammad Towkir Islam, was among those killed in the crash. The government has declared a state day of mourning for Tuesday in memory of those

All you need to know about Bangladesh Air Force jet crash into Dhaka school

At least 20 people have been killed after a Bangladesh Air Force jet crashed into a private school campus in the south Asian country's capital, Dhaka, on Monday. It is the deadliest airplane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory. In 2008, another F-7 air force training jet crashed outside Dhaka, killing its pilot, who had ejected after he discovered a technical problem. While details are still emerging, here's what is known so far: The crash The F-7 BGI jet, a variant of a Chinese fighter, crashed into the campus of the Milestone School and College, in the Uttara neighborhood of Dhaka. The pilot was among the dead, according to the military and a fire official. More than 160 other people have been injured. Officials described the plane as a training aircraft. The military said the jet took off from Bangladesh Air Force Base A K Khandaker in Dhaka's Kurmitola neighborhood at 1:06 pm local time and crashed soon after, catching fire immediately. The military said the pi

Man held in Bangladesh for suspected ties to Pak-based militant group

Md Foysal reportedly travelled to Afghanistan via Pakistan and recruited others for extremist activities

Bangladesh rape video sparks outrage; main suspect, 4 others arrested

The alleged rape of a woman belonging to a minority community three days ago in central Bangladesh's Cumilla district sparked nationwide outrage on Sunday after a video of the assault went viral. The main suspect of the alleged rape has been arrested along with several others, police said. Cumilla district's police chief Nazir Ahmed Khan said the main accused was arrested in a predawn raid at Dhaka's Sayedabad area and four others were apprehended for revealing the picture and identity of the woman on social media. Students of Dhaka University staged marches in the campus condemning the rape while residents of its Jagannath Hall dormitory, dedicated for minority community students, took out processions calling for justice. Secretary General of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir demanded exemplary punitive action against the culprits. The High Court, meanwhile, issued a directive asking authorities to immediately remov

Anti-independence forces stage mock trial against Hasina: Awami League

Formal charges were filed on Sunday against then Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity committed during the student-led uprising in July-August 2024

Bangladesh's interim govt chief Yunus mulls resignation: Report

Bangladesh's interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus mulls resignation as he finds it difficult to work because political parties failed to reach a common ground, BBC Bangla service reported at midnight on Thursday quoting student-led National Citizen Party CP party chief Nhid Islam. "We have been hearing news of sir's (Yunus) resignation since this morning. So I went to meet sir to discuss that issue . . . He said he is thinking about it. He feels that the situation is such that he cannot work," Islam told the BBC Bangla. The NCP convenor said Chief Adviser Yunus expressed his fear that he would not be able to work in the current situation of the country saying, I won't be able to work unless the political parties can reach a common ground". The leader of the NCP who visibly emerged with Yunus's blessings in February this year, said he told Yunus to stay strong for the sake of the country's security, and future and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising. Islam sai

North East sea-road link via Myanmar back in focus as ties with Dhaka fray

India looks to fast-track a long-pending multimodal corridor to the North East via Myanmar, bypassing Bangladesh, amid rising regional tensions and shifting geopolitical equations

Talk to Dhaka: New Delhi should not ignore the new govt in Bangladesh

Prof Yunus' first priority should have been restoring economic stability and political calm. However, this has not been achieved

India curbs key Bangladeshi imports via land ports amid trade tensions

India imposes port restrictions on Bangladeshi imports after Dhaka blocks Indian yarn; relations worsen post Sheikh Hasina's exit, raising concerns over regional trade ties

Dhaka's actions prompted India to halt transhipment facility: MEA

India on Thursday said its decision to withdraw the transhipment facility for Bangladeshi exports to third countries was in response to certain measures initiated by Dhaka that impacted bilateral trade. Though New Delhi did not elaborate on the steps by Dhaka, it is learnt the decision by Bangladesh's interim government to halt import of Indian yarn and closure of three land ports triggered the Indian response on the transhipment facility. "We stand for a democratic, for an inclusive, and for a prosperous Bangladesh. As far as trade issues are concerned, last week we had made an announcement regarding trans-shipment facility," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "We had taken that measure because of the congestion that we see on our Ports and our Airports. But I would also remind you, please do have a look at the developments that have happened on the Bangladeshi side prior to us announcing these measures," he said. The spokesperson was responding to questi