Two killed as villagers, Islamists clash in Bangladesh

Thousands of Bangladeshi villagers clashed on Monday with members of a religious group, leaving two dead people and scores injured, an official said.

Villagers rallied in the southern coastal district of Noakhali to demand a halt to the construction of a local Hizbut Tauhid mosque, said executive magistrate M. Nikaruzzaman.

“As the clashes spread, some 5,000 villagers attacked hundreds of followers of Hizbut Tauhid with sticks and rocks. Two people were killed and some 60 people were injured. The villagers also torched two homes of Hizbut Tauhid members,” he said.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary officers sent to the scene fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the rampaging villagers to try to halt the violence, police said.