Gunfire in Dhaka mutiny camp stops, tanks in position
* Tanks surround BDR complex as around 50 killed in border guard mutiny
* PM Hasina warns of tough action
* Cell-phone networks shut
DHAKA: Gunfire erupted for the second day at a paramilitary camp in the Bangladesh capital on Thursday, police said, but subsided and stopped after the prime minister appealed for mutineers to return to their barracks.
It was not clear, however, if Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border troops who had mutinied over pay had moved off the streets of towns elsewhere in the country.
Tanks: At least six government tanks and 10 armoured personnel carriers were in position around the BDR headquarters in Dhaka, where violence on Wednesday killed nearly 50 people.
Warning: Lay down your guns immediately and go back to barracks. Do not force me to take tough actions or push my patience beyond tolerable limits, Hasina warned restive BDR troops in a national broadcast on Thursday afternoon.
Give democracy and the economy a chance to develop.
The turmoil underscores the challenges faced by Hasina, who took office only last month after winning parliamentary elections in December that returned Bangladesh to democracy after nearly two years of army-backed emergency rule.
The mutiny had begun on Wednesday at the BDRs Dhaka headquarters and shooting there and in the immediate vicinity accounted for the known deaths so far.
Shooting incidents involving BDR troops then erupted in more than a dozen other towns on Thursday, local police said.
Cell-phone: Mobile phone services were ordered cut by the government to stem rumours and misinformation, one cell-phone operator said, making it difficult to find out what was happening around the impoverished South Asian nation.
An amnesty brought calm to the capital on Thursday morning but fresh firing broke out in the afternoon before Hasinas speech.
The firing subsided and then stopped and BDR troops resumed laying down weapons under the amnesty after Hasinas speech, but police urged residents around the complex to evacuate.
Vacate your homes, leave the area and go with your children to safer places, one policeman said over a loudspeaker.
Dhaka streets were largely deserted and residents were tense as they waited to see what happened next.
Bangladesh, home to more than 140 million people, has had several military coups since independence in 1971, but this weeks mutinies are over pay, benefits and command structure, officials and local media said, not politics.
Traditionally the BDR is led by army officers. Some BDR troops want commanders drawn from their own ranks.
The main duty of the BDR troops is guarding the countrys borders, but they often back up the army and police in meeting other defence and security requirements.
As the government worked to restore order in Dhaka on Thursday, shooting began from BDR units scattered across the country. A Reuters reporter in Sylhet in the northeast said BDR troops were coming on the street holding up guns and shooting.
BDR members barricaded a highway linking two districts in the southern region while they took over camps from army commanders at several places, local officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those actions.
The unrest is a blow to hopes Hasinas government could bring stability that would attract much-needed investors and boost development to Bangladesh, where around 40 percent of the populace live below the poverty line.
On Thursday Hasina expressed deep shock over the deaths and urged the mutinous troops not to kill your brothers or make your sisters widows.
Witnesses said police recovered the bodies of six BDR officers near the Dhaka headquarters on Thursday. On Wednesday, police found two officers dead.
Analysts said the mutinies pose a major challenge for Hasina in keeping together the powerful defence forces which have often intervened in the countrys politics and in tackling their grievances without risking further discord.
This poses a huge challenge for the prime minister and her government, who need to be tactful in trying to resolve it, said retired Major General Azizur Rahman, a former BDR chief. reuters
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
