Thousands of protesters have firebombed polling stations and stolen ballot papers, with deadly violence flaring across Bangladesh during a walkover election boycotted by the opposition.
Police said on Sunday at least 11 people had been killed since the previous day and more than 200 polling stations were set on fire or trashed by mobs in a bid by the opposition to wreck the one-sided contest.
Two of those killed were beaten to death while guarding polling stations in northern districts, which are regarded as opposition strongholds.
"We've seen thousands of protesters attack polling booths and our personnel at a number of locations with Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs," northern Bogra district police chief Syed Abu Sayem told AFP.
He said thousands of ballot papers had been ceremoniously set on fire.
Most of the victims were opposition activists who were shot by police, while a driver died of his injuries from a Molotov cocktail attack on his truck.
"We were forced to open fire after thousands of them attacked us with guns and small bombs," said Mokbul Hossain, police chief in the northern Parbatipur town.
"They managed to seize some ballot papers and they were also trying to steal our weapons."
In the capital, Dhaka, police confirmed at least two petrol bomb attacks on polling stations.
Tens of thousands of troops were deployed throughout the country after about 150 people had been killed in the build-up.
The ruling Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of orchestrating the violence, and has kept its leader Khaleda Zia under de facto house arrest.
AFP correspondents said there were no voting queues, while local television reported that only a single person voted in the first three hours at one station.
The outcome of the contest is not in doubt as voting is taking place in only 147 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies. Awami League candidates or allies have a clear run in the remaining 153.
The BNP, the largest of 21 parties refusing to take part, has called the election a "scandalous farce".
Those who did vote showed little enthusiasm.
Shopkeeper Niyamat Ullah said it was a pointless exercise.
"I am not going to vote," he told AFP. "What kind of election is it when there's only a handful of voters at the polling centre and the two candidates are from the same party?"
Analysts warn it will likely fuel violence after the bloodiest year of unrest since Bangladesh broke free from Pakistan in 1971.
The former East Pakistan is one of the poorest nations in Asia, and more turmoil will undermine efforts to improve the lot of its population of 154 million - a third of whom live below the poverty line.
Zia says any polls overseen by her arch enemy Hasina will not be fair, calling instead for them to be organised by a neutral caretaker government.
A local rights group says more than 500 people have been killed since January 2013, including victims of clashes that erupted after the conviction of leading Islamists for crimes dating back to the 1971 war.
The main Islamist party has been banned by the courts from taking part in the election, and its leaders are either in detention or have gone into hiding.
Bangladesh has been plagued by instability since independence, with nearly 20 coups since 1975.
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