New Delhi: Bangladeshi troops patrolled Dhaka on Sunday to maintain order after the interim government failed to end the lingering political standoff on electoral reforms.
President Iajuddin Ahmed ordered the deployment on Saturday amid a deterioration of public order and threats by a multi-party alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, to besiege the president's palace.
It comes after days of protests by the opposition, demanding changes they say are necessary for the elections to be free and fair.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police indefinitely banned any public gatherings or protests around the presidential palace in downtown Dhaka.
In Dhaka, soldiers rolled into the presidential compound, Bangabhaban, and other locations including the university campus.
The campus is a hotbed of support for both Hasina and her main rival former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia.
The elections are due on January 23, but the opposition Awami League has pledged more protests.
The announcement came after the opposition Awami League and its allies held several nationwide blockades in recent weeks to demand election reforms.
The 14-party alliance led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina threatened to march on the presidential palace on Sunday unless their demands for changes to the election commission were met by Saturday midnight.
Despite the army's presence, thousands of supporters of Hasina's Awami League marched through Dhaka, demanding that the president step down as head of the interim administration.
At least 44 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes between political activists since late October.
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