Bangladeshi PM vows to continue drug war amid concerns

DHAKA, May 31 (Xinhua) — Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated her vow to continue the war on drugs.
Terming the drug abuse as a disease at a press briefing here on Tuesday, Hasina stressed the need for continuation of the drive.
She, however, said the authorities will take steps if any innocent person falls victim to the ongoing countrywide anti-drug drive.
“No one irrespective of stature will be spared if found guilty.”
Hasina did not reply to a question on how long the ongoing war on drug will continue.
Fifteen more suspects reportedly were killed early Tuesday in police operations in parts of the country.
Latest figures showed that 123 alleged drug users and drug dealers have so far been killed since the campaign started earlier this month.
Almost all the alleged peddlers were killed in what law enforcers termed “shootout.”
However, there has still been no official announcements of the total deaths from the ongoing drug war.
Bangladesh’s anti-crime elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) earlier this month announced the countrywide anti-narcotics drive under orders from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who on several occasions this month had asked the law enforcers to go tough against the drug peddlers.
Last week she said raids to eliminate drug trafficking in Bangladesh supervised by RAB were similar to the ones conducted against militants.   Enditem