WORLD> Asia-Pacific
Tanks roll into Bangladeshi capital after mutiny
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-26 21:03

Army soldiers move an artillery piece in front of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka February 26, 2009. [Agencies] 

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.