Bangladeshi mutiny no longer confined to capital - reports
26/02/2009 14:16 NEW DELHI/MOSCOW, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - A Bangladeshi border guard mutiny that has left 50 people dead in the capital of Dhaka has now spread to other cities, according to local media reports.
There have been reports of gunfire near the barracks of the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles in the regions of Chittagong, Rajshahi, Feni, Teknaf, Satkania, Sylhet, Dinajpur and Naogaon.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called an emergency meeting with other government officials to discuss the situation. The mutiny broke out over pay and conditions.
On Wednesday, the prime minister met with the leaders of the mutiny. She promised both to meet their demands and to ensure that they would not face prosecution. Border guards in Dhaka subsequently began laying down their weapons. However, gunfire broke out again on Thursday at a barracks in the Pilkhana area of Dhaka.
"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 said on national television.
The conflict between the paramilitary force's top brass and lower-ranking troops has been building up over the last 20 years because all of the top posts have been filled by Bangladeshi army officers, meaning long-serving border guard officers have no hope of promotion and live on very low wages in comparison to their superiors.
A number of media sources say that the number of dead could reach beyond 100.
According to country's Daily Star paper, there is still no information on the dozens of senior officers and employees taken hostage in Dhaka by the mutineers.
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