Reply #2: Another report on developments: "Bangladesh mutiny spreads beyond the capital"

[Turborama]

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent, in Delhi

A mutiny by Bangladeshi border guards in the capital Dhaka has spread to other towns, threatening to plunge the entire country into chaos two months after emergency rule was lifted.

As Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister, warned the mutineers that her Government would take tough action unless they surrendered their weapons immediately and army tanks closed in on the guards' headquarters, local television stations reported rebellions in 12 of the 64 border districts where the 42,000-strong Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) is stationed.

At a border guard post in the southern town of Tekhnaf, guards fired shots at the commanding officer's residence early this morning, forcing him to flee, according to Jalal Ahmed Chowdhury, a police official.

Similar scenes were reported from the northeastern district of Moulivibazar, where the local police chief said: "They are firing indiscriminately… Their commanding officer told me that he has fled the camp."

A witness in Sylhet district, also in the northeast, said: “Fighting is raging outside the BDR camp, with troops coming on the street holding up guns and shooting."

More: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5806375.ece