Bangladesh: Mutiny over after tanks enter capital

[February 26, 2009]  DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- The Bangladeshi government says all the mutinous border guards who seized control of their headquarters have surrendered after a two-day revolt.

The guards agreed to surrender after the government promised them an amnesty and agreed to look into their demands for better conditions.

But the process stalled and was only completed Thursday after the government sent tanks into the capital in a show of force.

Government negotiator Mahbub Ara Gini says "all the mutinous border guards have surrendered their weapons."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- Bangladeshi tanks rolled into the capital Thursday, hours after the prime minister warned mutinous border guards she would "do whatever is needed to end the violence."

The show of force apparently worked as guards in the compound were later seen hoisting a white flag, and Home Minister Shahara Khatun said they had resumed surrendering their weapons.

But the two-day revolt, which has killed at least 10 people, by border guards angry over pay has appeared to end before, only to resume again.

Border guards first mutinied Wednesday at the group's headquarters in Dhaka, turning their weapons on senior officers, seizing a nearby shopping center and trapping students in a school on their compound. The guards later agreed to surrender after the government said it would grant them amnesty and discuss their grievances.

But on Thursday, mutineers fired shots at the commanding officer's residence at a border guard post in the southern town of Tekhnaf early Thursday, sending him fleeing, said police official Jalal Ahmed Chowdhury. Witnesses said violence also erupted at border guard posts in Cox's Bazar, Chittagong and Naikhongchari in the south, Sylhet in the northeast, Rajshahi and Naogaon in the northwest.

On Thursday night, an Associated Press reporter saw several tanks had taken up positions in a residential neighborhood near the compound seized by the guards Wednesday. Local media reported seeing at least seven tanks heading toward the city.

The move came shortly after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appealed to the mutineers to surrender in a televised speech to the nation.

"We don't want to use force to break the standoff," Hasina said. "But don't play with our patience. We will not hesitate to do whatever is needed to end the violence if peaceful means fails."

At least 10 people have been confirmed dead in Dhaka, but officials fear up to 50 people may have been killed there. On Thursday morning, the bodies of seven border guards -- two of them of officers -- were found outside the violence-wracked headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles, doctors at a local hospital said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the new round of violence.

Some 42,000 guards with the Bangladesh Rifles, the official name of the paramilitary border forces, are posted at 64 camps throughout the country.

The insurrection was the result of longtime frustrations over pay for the border guards that didn't keep pace with that of the army's -- highlighted by rising food prices in the chronically poor South Asian country as the global economic crisis grows.

Hospital doctors confirmed ten people dead. Among the dead were three bystanders, including a rickshaw driver. At least 20 people were injured.

But Junior Law Minister Quamrul Islam told reporters early Thursday: "It's our guess at least 50 people may have died" in the violence. His remarks came after a visit to the compound, but he acknowledged that the figure was unconfirmed. "We have not seen any bodies," he added.

[Associated Press; By FARID HOSSAIN]

Associated Press writers Parveen Ahmed and Julhas Alam contributed to this report.

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