New Delhi (Sputnik) — The war against drug-trafficking is the latest step taken by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has invoked tough anti-terrorism laws to wipe out drug offenders, assuring the public that no one would be spared.
The Rapid Action Battalion in charge of the operation has claimed that all the people killed by its forces were "top drug traders," but has provided no evidence.
"We will rescue the country from the clutches of drugs just as we did in clamping down on militancy," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said.
We will rescue the country from the clutches of drugs as we did in clamping down on the militancy.
— Sheikh Hasina Quotes (@HPMHasinaQuotes) May 23, 2018
— #SheikhHasina#Bangladesh#SheikhHasinaQuotes pic.twitter.com/oTDlyNIPff
"Fears rise that the Duterte virus may have spread to Bangladesh, with 91 drug war killings in just two weeks," Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, tweeted.
Fears rise that the Duterte virus may have spread to Bangladesh, with 91 "drug war
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) May 28, 2018
killings in just two weeks. https://t.co/eBYnioODuY pic.twitter.com/ORP0Gta9rC
The Bangladeshi police estimate that around 7 million people, out of the country's population of 160 million, are addicted to drugs, mostly Yaba, a pill that contains caffeine and methamphetamine.
The government alleges that Myanmar is the main source of Yaba pills, as more than $40 million worth of pills enter Bangladesh annually from neighboring Myanmar.
