Death toll soars as Bangladesh continues war on drugs

At least 12 more people died overnight in what security forces describe as shootouts as Bangladesh’s war on drugs continued amid persistent criticism from different rights groups and rival political parties.

The crackdown on narcotics rolled into the 10th day, bringing the number of so-called shootout deaths to over 103.
 
Law-enforcement agencies claimed they engaged in ‘gun battles’ with drug traffickers in nine districts from Monday night to Tuesday morning.
 
Among the dead, two people were killed in Cumilla and Kushtia each, Dhaka, Satkhira, Mymensingh, Brahmanbaria, Thakurgaon and Barguna each in an alleged shootout with police while two bullet-ridden bodies were recovered from Jashore.
 
The security forces claim that all of the dead were involved in drug trafficking, but human-rights organisations have raised questions over these ‘extrajudicial killings’.
 
Earlier, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said security forces were conducting an ‘all-out war’ on drugs and will continue to do so until trafficking was eliminated.
 
Hundreds of people have also been arrested in raids across the country, since May 18 after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared a war on drugs.