Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled her official residence on Monday amid escalating protests in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
The unrest follows violent clashes that resulted in numerous casualties over the weekend.
Images broadcast by Channel 24 showed thousands of protesters storming Hasina’s palace, Ganabhaban, celebrating as they entered the premises.
Initially sparked by demands to end a job quota system for civil service positions, the protests have escalated into widespread anti-government demonstrations.
A source close to Hasina confirmed to AFP that the prime minister and her sister had sought refuge outside the capital.
The source also indicated that Hasina intended to address the nation but could not.
Reports suggest that Hasina may have resigned, though this has not been officially confirmed.
The unrest, which began last month, has been exacerbated by the government’s recent moves to cut a quota for war veterans’ families from 30% to 5% while reserving 93% of positions for merit-based selection.
Despite these concessions, protests have intensified, driven by accusations of excessive force and ongoing dissatisfaction with Hasina’s administration.
Sunday’s violence saw at least 100 people, including 14 police officers, killed in clashes, according to Prothom Alo, a leading Bengali-language newspaper. Some reports estimate the death toll to be higher.
In response, the military has imposed a curfew, and the government has declared a holiday from Monday to Wednesday.
Mobile internet services have been disrupted, and access to Facebook and messaging apps has been blocked.
In addition to curfews and internet shutdowns, authorities have set up barbed-wire barricades around critical locations, including Hasina’s office.
The country’s garment factories, crucial to the economy, have been shut down, and more than 3,500 factories are affected.
A group of retired military officers has called for reducing the number of troops on the streets and urged Hasina to engage in political dialogue to resolve the crisis.
The protests, focused initially on job quotas, have broadened to challenge Hasina’s 15-year rule, with accusations of abuse of power and suppression of dissent.
The ruling Awami League party claims opposition groups, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, have co-opted the demonstrations.
The violence has resulted in over 11,000 arrests, underscoring the severity of the ongoing conflict.
