Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns, leaves country after weeks of deadly protests

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence.

Military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said in a televised address that Hasina had left the country and that an interim government would be formed.

Local media showed the embattled leader boarding a military helicopter with her sister and reported that it was headed to the eastern Indian state of West Bengal just across the border. Another report said she was headed to India's northeastern state of Tripura.

Zaman promised the military would stand adown and there would be an investigation into the deadly crackdowns during weeks of anti-government protests. He asked citizens for time to restore peace.

"Keep faith in the military. We will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible," he said. "I have ordered that no army and police will indulge in any kind of firing."

"Now, the students' duty is to stay calm and help us," he added.

The protests began peacefully in late June, as students sought an end to a quota system for government jobs, but turned violent after clashes between protesters and police, as well as pro-government activists, at Dhaka University.

The government's attempts to quell demonstrations with force, curfews and internet shutdowns backfired, prompting further outrage as nearly 300 people were killed, leading to demands for the prime minister's resignation. Hasina, 76, was the longest-serving leader in the history of Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim nation of over 160 million people.

On Sunday, nearly 100 people were killed as the protesters clashed with security officials and the ruling party activists across the country. Those killed include at least 14 police officers, according to the country's leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo. Hundreds more were injured in the violence. 

Broadband internet and mobile data services were restored across Bangladesh on Monday, three hours after they were suspended for the second time since the protests turned deadly in July.

The military-imposed curfew went into effect Sunday night and covered Dhaka and other divisional and district headquarters. The government had earlier imposed a curfew with some exceptions in the capital and elsewhere.

Hasina on Sunday said that protesters who engaged in "sabotage" and destruction were no longer students but criminals.

Her ruling Awami League party said the demand for her resignation showed that the protests have been taken over by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Hasina was elected for a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that was boycotted by her main opponents, triggering questions over how free and fair the vote was. Thousands of opposition members were jailed in the lead-up to the polls, which the government defended as being democratically held.