Two injured, one killed in firing what national party called it attempt to disrupt February election
\n Dhaka
\nGunmen on motorbikes attacked a Bangladesh political rally, killing one person and wounding two others, including a candidate, officials said on Thursday, after parties began campaigning for landmark elections.
\nMajor parties opened their campaigns on Wednesday for the elections slated for February 2026, the first since a deadly uprising last year toppled the autocratic government of former ruler Sheikh Hasina.
\nCampaigning turned violent almost immediately.
\nThe shooting took place at a rally on Wednesday for the powerful Bangladesh National Party (BNP) attended by hundreds in the port city of Chattogram, police said.
\nSenior BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said: \u201cIt was an attempt to destabilise politics and disrupt the election\u201d.
\nThe BNP are widely seen as the frontrunner in the polls.
\nPolice said the gunmen opened fire quickly on a crowd of hundreds at the rally, but insisted that the BNP candidate was not the target.
\n\u201cThe miscreants… shot their target, and fled in a flash,\u201d senior police officer Hasib Aziz told reporters late on Wednesday.
\nCandidate Ershad Ullah was shot and wounded, along with a supporter. A third man was killed.
\n\u201cWe would urge candidates to inform the police station at least 24 hours prior to any election campaign, so that more police can be deployed,\u201d Aziz said.
\n\u2018Show restraint\u2019
\nThe South Asian nation of about 170 million people has been in political turmoil since Hasina was overthrown by the student-led uprising in August 2024.
\nCampaigning is technically unofficial because the election commission is not expected to announce the voting day until December.
\nInterim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner serving as chief adviser, has repeatedly promised the elections will be held in February.
\nYunus has ordered an investigation into the shooting, his media team said in a statement.
\nThe interim government \u201ccalls on all political actors and their supporters to uphold calm, show restraint, and ensure that the February general election takes place in an atmosphere of peace, dignity, and fairness\u201d, it said on Thursday.
\nBangladesh police offered cash rewards on Wednesday for the surrender of more than 1,300 machine guns, rifles and pistols looted during last year\u2019s uprising.
\nLieutenant General Md Mainur Rahman told an army news conference on Wednesday that the military would provide security to ensure peaceful polls and that they would return to barracks after the election.
\n\u201cWe hope stability will be strengthened, law and order will remain normal, and we will return to the cantonment once the election is held,\u201d Rahman said.
\nMajor parties have unveiled their candidate lists, with the BNP saying this week that 80-year-old leader and three-time prime minister Khaleda Zia will run again, as well as her son, Tarique Rahman.
\nBangladesh\u2019s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, said it had finalised a preliminary candidate list and was \u201cengaging with other parties on the prospect of seat-sharing\u201d, senior leader Abdullah Mohammad Taher told AFP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two injured, one killed in firing what national party called it attempt to disrupt February election Dhaka Gunmen on motorbikes attacked a Bangladesh political rally, killing one person and wounding two others, including a candidate, officials said on Thursday, after parties began campaigning for landmark elections. Major parties opened their campaigns on Wednesday for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-513015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n