Bangladesh mutiny ends after tanks enter capital

[David]

AP


DHAKA, Bangladesh – Tanks rolled through the Bangladeshi capital Thursday in a show of force that finally persuaded mutinous border guards to lay down their arms and end a two-day revolt that had threatened to spread across the impoverished South Asian nation.

At least 11 people were killed in the insurrection after the guards opened fire on their senior officers and seized their headquarters to protest poor pay and conditions.

The guards had agreed overnight to surrender after the government promised them an amnesty and agreed to look into their demands.

But as the process stalled and the revolt looked to be spreading to other areas Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped in to warn the rebels she would "do whatever is needed to end the violence."

Hours later, tanks and armored vehicles with heavy machine guns rolled into the capital, taking up positions in residential neighborhoods around the border guards' compound. An Associated Press reporter saw several tanks stationed in a playground.

Apparently intimidated by the move, the guards hoisted a white flag on Thursday afternoon and resumed laying down arms.

"All the mutinous border guards have surrendered their weapons," government negotiator Mahbub Ara Gini told reporters, adding that all military officials with their families trapped inside the headquarters had been evacuated.

Home Minister Shahara Khatun said police then took control of the compound. She said no more bodies had been discovered on the compound. Officials had earlier said they feared up to 50 people were dead.

Border guards first mutinied Wednesday. Then on Thursday, despite an agreement to surrender, the insurrection began to spread to other border guard units across the country. In one instance mutineers fired shots at the commanding officer's residence.

But after Hasina's address to the nation, violence petered out and no further incidents were reported.

"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 11 people have been confirmed dead in Dhaka. On Thursday, the bodies of eight border guards — all of them of officers — were found outside the violence-wracked headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles, doctors at a local hospital said.

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.

Their resentment to the army has been heightened by the practice of appointing army officers to head the border guards. They are also not allowed to participate in lucrative U.N. peacekeeping missions.

The army plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh, an impoverished nation of 150 million people, and only recently let the country return to civilian rule.

There is also a history of military coups and political assassinations. Two of the country's presidents have been slain in military takeovers, and there have been 19 failed coup attempts since the country gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.