At least three people were killed on Tuesday in Bangladesh during violent clashes between rival groups over government job quotas, police reported, following injuries to over 400 individuals the previous day.

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets as students protesting against job quotas confronted counter-protesters supporting the ruling Awami League party. The violence represents a significant escalation in a prolonged campaign that has persisted despite calls from Bangladesh's prime minister and top court for students to return to classes.

For weeks, students have held near-daily protests, demanding the government replace the current quota system with a merit-based scheme. The existing system reserves over half of the civil service positions for specific groups, including the children of heroes from Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Critics argue that the system unfairly benefits children of pro-government groups loyal to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who secured a fourth consecutive term in January's uncontested election.

Violence Erupts

On Tuesday, opposing student groups clashed in several areas across Dhaka, hurling bricks at each other. Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain reported protests in at least a dozen locations in the capital.

Elsewhere in Bangladesh, hundreds of students joined rallies, blocking rail lines and highways. In Chittagong, a southwestern port city, a student and a laborer were killed, according to police inspector Ala Uddin of Chittagong Medical College Hospital. The laborer suffered bullet injuries, while the student had other types of injuries.

In Rangpur, a northern city, police commissioner Mohammad Moniruzzaman confirmed that a student was killed in clashes. Although he did not specify the cause of death, he mentioned that police had fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Rangpur Medical College hospital director Yunus Ali noted that the deceased student had injuries, adding that "his body had marks of injuries."

Tauhidul Haque Siam, a student reporter from Rokeya University, claimed that ruling party supporters attacked anti-quota protesters and that police fired shotguns, typically used for rubber bullets or plastic pellets. Siam, who was injured, stated, "Police opened fire from their shotguns on the protesters," and believed the dead student was killed during the incident, though this account could not be independently verified.

In Dhaka, even teenagers joined the protests. A schoolgirl reported to AFP that the ruling party's youth wing attacked them with firearms, Molotov cocktails, machetes, and sticks.