At least 34 people have died in Bangladesh and scores have been injured, most of them in firebomb attacks, amid rising political unrest fuelled by a stand-off between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the main opposition leader.
Begum Khaleda Zia, whose opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the election in 2014, has demanded that Ms. Hasina and her government step down for a new vote under a caretaker administration.
Ms. Hasina has refused, instead tightening her grip by arresting key opposition leaders as anti-government protests spread.
Police said at least 25 people have died in arson attacks, including two on Friday. Eight more were killed in clashes with police, and one died following injuries from a crude bomb blast, they added.
At least 50 people were injured, some critically, after opposition activists firebombed several vehicles in Dhaka and surrounding districts, police and witnesses said.
In Dhaka, at least 29 people suffered burns after attackers hurled petrol bombs at a bus, police said.
"Nine are in critical condition," said Mohammad Sajjat Khandakar, a doctor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, which has been struggling to deal with growing numbers of the injured.
More than 7,000 opposition activists have been detained, Industry Minister Amir Hossain Amu, the head of a government law and order panel, said.
The opposition called for another 36-hour countrywide strike from Sunday morning to protest against the arrests and "oppression" of its leaders during an indefinite transport blockade it launched.
Legal action could be considered against Ms. Khaleda for ordering the killing of innocent people, said Health Minister Mohammed Nasim.
"They should immediately stop the killing of innocent people, children, woman, labourers," he told reporters on Saturday after visiting the burns victims.
