Two die after Bangladesh war crimes protest: police

Dhaka, Feb 14 (AFP) Two people died today after suffering injuries in violent clashes between police and Islamists earlier in the week during protests over war crimes trials in Bangladesh. The demonstrators have been demanding a halt to the trials of opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party leaders for crimes including genocide and rape they are alleged to have committed during the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan. Nine people have now died of political violence including Jamaat supporters, some of whom were shot dead, since the Islamists launched the protests last month. Police said a lift operator of a state bank succumbed to head injuries after he was beaten by supporters of Jamaat on Wednesday as clashes erupted between police and Islamists in Dhaka's main commercial area. A village guard who was gravely injured on Tuesday in another violent protest that broke out near the southeastern port city of Chittagong also died of his wounds this afternoon, police said. "He was attacked by Shibir (student wing of Jamaat) activists," Rabiul Islam, Chittagong special branch police chief, told AFP. (AFP) ASY 02150135 NNNN