At least 105 people have died in the protests, a curfew has been imposed and the army deployed

Friday marks the 19th day of a protest movement that has turned into a confrontation with the government.

A country in chaos. Bangladesh imposed a curfew on Friday, July 19, and deployed the army to maintain order, the office of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told AFP, after several days of deadly student protests. This is the 19th day of a protest movement that has turned into a confrontation with the government, with a death toll of at least 105, according to an AFP count from hospitals.

The demonstrators are protesting, among other things, against a quota system in the civil service. “The protests are huge and this is perhaps the most serious challenge” never faced by the Prime Minister, in power since 2009, estimates Pierre Prakash, director of Crisis Group Asia based in Bangkok (Thailand), to AFP. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the repression, speaking of attacks “particularly shocking and unacceptable.”

He said to himself “very concerned” by reports that authorities are deploying paramilitary units such as the Border Guard Bangladesh and the Rapid Action Battalion, “who have a long history of violations” human rights. On Friday alone, at least 52 people were killed in Dhaka, where protests continued despite a ban on all gatherings and public meetings in the capital, according to an AFP tally.

After closing schools and universities earlier this week, authorities have also cut off the internet since Thursday and Friday. Government buildings have also been “set on fire and vandalized”, According to police, including the headquarters of the state-owned Bangladesh Television (BTV), where more than 700 people were injured, including 104 police officers and 30 journalists. A leading opponent, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was also arrested on Friday, police said. Finally, a prison in the Narsingdi district was stormed by protesters on Friday.