Ten dead and hundreds injured as police battle hardline Islamist group demanding death penalty for those who insult Allah

Ten people were killed and hundreds more injured in Bangladesh today in fierce street fighting between police and Islamic hardliners demanding the death penalty for blasphemy.
Rioters chanting 'God is greatest!' torched shops and vehicles, blocked roads and fought bloody battles with police in the capital of Dhaka and its suburbs.
Seven people were killed in the early morning clashes in the city centre and another three died in Kanchpur on the city's outskirts, local media reported.

Fundamentalists: Ten people have died and hundreds have been injured as hardline Islamists demanding a new blasphemy law clashed with police in Bangladesh

Fierce clashes: Civilians carry an injured Islamist protester during the righting with police in the capital Dhaka

Protesters armed with sticks flee from police tear gas: The Islamic hardliners are demanding the death penalty for blasphemy

The reports said the violence erupted after security forces began firing tear gas and rubber bullets in an effort to evict about 20,000 protesters from a central commercial district in Dhaka.
Activists from the fundamentalist Hefajat-e-Islam group had marched along at least six roads, blocking transport between Dhaka and other cities.
Witnesses have said the group was chanting 'Allahu Akbar!' ('God is greatest!') and 'One point, One demand: Atheists must be hanged.'
Police have said about 200,000 people marched to central Dhaka, where tensions erupted as protesters - armed with rocks - clashed with security officials, who beat them back with batons.

It is believed rioting broke out after police tried to intercept protesters, many of whom had travelled from remote villages and had gathered in front of the country's largest mosque.
Trouble then spread to central districts of Dhaka, according to reports.
Police inspector Mozammel Haq confirmed three of those who were killed were taken to Dhaka Medical College. Seven others were taken to two private clinics, including six at the Al Baraka Hospital.
Six are said to have bullet wounds in their heads. Police maintain that only rubber bullets were used, but witnesses and various local media sources claim officers fired hundreds of live rounds.

Hefajat-e-Islam is a newly created radical Islamist group that wants greater segregation of men and women, and a stricter Islamic education. It also want the restoration of pledges to Allah in the constitution.
The government in Bangladesh has rejected the groups' demands, saying the Muslim-majority nation is governed by secular liberal laws.
Leaders have threatened to launch a campaign to oust the government unless their demands are met.
DAILYMAIL