Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina resigns as widening unrest sees protesters storm her official residence

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s prime minister resigned and fled the country Monday after weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs descended into violence and grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule. Thousands of demonstrators stormed her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's departure threatens to create even more instability in the densely populated nation on India's border that is already dealing with a series of crises, from high unemployment to corruption to climate change. Amid security concerns, the main airport in Dhaka, the capital, suspended operations.

Violence just before and after her resignation left at least 41 people dead and about 200 others injured, according to media reports, which could not be independently confirmed. More than a dozen were reportedly killed when protesters set fire to a hotel owned by a leader in Hasina's party in the southwestern town of Jashore.

The military chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zamam said he was temporarily taking control of the country, and soldiers tried to stem the growing unrest. Mohammed Shahabuddin, the country’s figurehead president, announced late Monday after meeting with Waker-uz-Zamam and opposition politicians that Parliament would be dissolved and a national government would be formed as soon as possible, leading to fresh elections.

Speaking after the embattled leader was seen in television footage boarding a military helicopter with her sister, Waker-uz-Zaman sought to reassure a jittery nation that order would be restored. Experts, though, warned the road ahead would be long.

Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets waving flags and cheering to celebrate Hasina's resignation. But some celebrations soon turned violent, with protesters attacking symbols of her government and party, ransacking and setting fires in several buildings.

“This is not just the end of the tyrant Sheikh Hasina, with this we put an end to the mafia state that she has created," declared Sairaj Salekin, a student protester, on the streets of Dhaka.

Protests began peacefully last month as frustrated students demanded an end to a quota system for government jobs that they said favored those with connections to the prime minister’s Awami League party. But amid a deadly crackdown, the demonstrations morphed into an unprecedented challenge to Hasina, highlighting the extent of economic distress in Bangladesh, where exports have fallen and foreign exchange reserves are running low.

Waker-uz-Zaman promised that the military would launch an investigation into a crackdown that had left nearly 300 people dead since mid-July, some of the country's worst bloodshed since the 1971 war of independence, and which had fueled outrage against the government. Nearly 100 people, including 14 policemen, were killed Sunday, according to the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo. At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.

“Keep faith in the military. We will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible,” he said.

The military wields significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or coup attempts since independence in 1971. But it was not clear if Hasina's resignation or the military chief's calls for calm would be enough to end the turmoil.

Nahid Islam, a top student coordinator, told reporters late Monday that the movement would propose an outline for the new interim government — and they would not accept any other solution.

Throughout the day, people continued to pour into and out of Hasina’s official residence, where they set fires, carried out furniture and pulled raw fish from the refrigerators. They also massed outside the parliament building, where a banner reading “justice” was hung.

Crowds also ransacked Hasina’s family’s ancestral home-turned-museum where her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the country’s first president and independence leader — was assassinated. They torched major offices of the ruling party and the country’s two leading, pro-government TV stations — both of which were forced to go off air.

Elsewhere, protests were peaceful, and thousands gathered Monday evening outside the presidential palace, where the military chief, opposition politicians and the country’s figurehead president met.

Hasina, meanwhile, landed in a city in India on the border with Bangladesh, according to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information to the media. It was not clear where she would go next.

The 76-year-old was elected for a fourth consecutive term in a January vote that was boycotted by her main opponents. Thousands of opposition members were jailed in the lead-up to the polls, and the U.S. and the U.K. denounced the result as not credible, though the government defended it.

Hasina had cultivated ties with powerful countries, including both India and China. But under her, relations with United States and other Western nations have come under strain, as they have expressed concerns over human rights violations and press freedoms in the predominantly Muslim nation of 170 million people.

Her political opponents have previously accused her of growing increasingly autocratic and have blamed the unrest on that authoritarian streak. In total, she served more than 20 years, longer than any other female head of government.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged a peaceful transition, according to a statement from U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, calling for "a full, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into all acts of violence."

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, speaking to reporters in Washington, welcomed the announcement that an interim government would be formed and called for “calm and restraint in the days ahead.”

Ali Riaz, an expert on Bangladeshi politics who teaches political science at Illinois State University, said the country now faces an immense political challenge, as politicians and the military will struggle to restore calm while satisfying various camps and reining in attempts to settle scores.

“So the challenges on the process going forward are daunting,” he said, adding that observers will be watching to ensure that the military's role stays that of mediator, given the history of army takeovers.

Protests continued even after the Supreme Court last month ruled that the quota system — which set aside up to 30% of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan — must be drastically cut.

The debate has highlighted the fact that there’s a lack of quality jobs for college graduates, who increasingly seek the more stable and lucrative government jobs. But there aren’t enough to go around — each year, some 400,000 graduates compete for around 3,000 jobs in the civil service exam.

The unrest has resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew. Fears also rose among Hindus that they might be targeted in the unrest since they are generally thought to be supporters of Hasina’s party.

Authorities also shut off mobile internet on Sunday, and broadband internet was cut briefly Monday but services were restored later in the day.

Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, told the BBC that he doubted his mother would make a political comeback, as she has in the past, saying she was “so disappointed after all her hard work.”

Pathi reported from New Delhi.

Anti-government protesters celebrate outside the Bangladesh Parliament after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters try to demolish a large statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina, after she resigned as Prime Minister, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters try to demolish a large statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina, after she resigned as Prime Minister, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Anti-government protesters celebrate outside the Bangladesh Parliament after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters celebrate at the Parliament House premise after news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Tuj Johora)

A man climbs to tie a rope around the head of a large statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina, as protesters try to bring it down after she resigned as Prime Minister, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People cry as the dead body of a man, who was killed during the anti-government protests in Bangladesh, is brought to a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters climb a public monument as they celebrate the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters shout slogans as they celebrate after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People shout slogans as they take part in a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

FILE- Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina interacts with journalists in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, as leader’s whereabouts are unknown. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

FILE- Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, centre, is flanked by her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, left, and sister Sheikh Rehana as she speaks to the media after casting her vote in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, as leader’s whereabouts are unknown. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

People shout slogans as they take part in a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

FILE- Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gestures as she speaks during a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. Hasina resigned on Monday, June 5, 2024, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

People shout slogans as they take part in a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters climb a public monument as they celebrate after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters shout slogans as they celebrate after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

FILE- Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina delivers a speech during the Paris Peace Forum, in Paris, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, as leader’s whereabouts are unknown. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

People use a stretcher trolley to carry a woman, who was injured during anti-government protests in Bangladesh, to a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Men cry as the dead body of a man, who was killed during the anti-government protests in Bangladesh, is brought to a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People use a stretcher trolley to carry a man, who was injured during the anti-government protests in Bangladesh, to the emergency ward of a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People help a man, who was injured during the anti-government protests in Bangladesh, out of a vehicle at a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People use a stretcher trolley to carry a man, who was injured during the anti-government protests in Bangladesh, to the emergency ward of a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People use a stretcher trolley to carry a man, who was injured during the anti-government protests in Bangladesh, to the emergency ward of a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People participate in a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Men run past a burning vehicle inside the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, set on fire by protesters, during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People participate in a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Firefighters douse a fire engulfing a shopping center which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A rickshaw puller rides in the smoke caused by a burning shopping center which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Men run past a shopping center which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Sunday issued a scathing report on their investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, blaming the disastrous end of America's longest war on President Joe Biden's administration and minimizing the role of former President Donald Trump, who had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

The partisan review lays out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump's February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America's fundamentalist Taliban enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens, Afghan battlefield allies, women activists and others at risk from the Taliban.

But House Republicans' report breaks little new ground as the withdrawal has been exhaustively litigated through several independent reviews. Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame.

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who led the investigation as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the GOP review reveals that the Biden administration “had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies.”

“At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security,” he said in a statement.

McCaul earlier in the day denied that the timing of the report's release ahead of the presidential election was political, or that Republicans ignored Trump's mistakes in the U.S. withdrawal.

A White House spokesperson, Sharon Yang, said the Republican report was based on “cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and preexisting biases.”

“Because of the bad deal former President Trump cut with the Taliban to get out of Afghanistan by May of 2021, President Biden inherited an untenable position,” either ramp up the U.S. war against a strengthened Taliban, or end it, Yang said in a statement.

House Democrats in a statement said the report by their Republican colleagues ignored facts about Trump's role.

The more than 18-month investigation by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee zeroed in on the months leading up to the removal of U.S. troops, saying that Biden and his administration undermined high-ranking officials and ignored warnings as the Taliban seized key cities far faster than most U.S. officials had expected or prepared for.

“I called their advance ‘the Red Blob,’'' retired Col. Seth Krummrich said of the Taliban, telling the committee that at the special operations' central command where he was chief of staff, ”we tracked the Taliban advance daily, looking like a red blob gobbling up terrain."

“I don't think we ever thought — you know, nobody ever talked about, ‘Well, what’s going to happen when the Taliban come over the wall?''' Carol Perez, the State Department's acting undersecretary for management at the time of the withdrawal, said of what House Republicans said was minimal State Department planning before abandoning the embassy in mid-August 2021 when the Taliban swept into Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.

The withdrawal ended a nearly two-decade occupation by U.S. and allied forces begun to rout out the al-Qaida militants responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Taliban had allowed al-Qaida's leader, Osama bin Laden, to shelter in Afghanistan. Committee staffers noted reports since the U.S. withdrawal of the group rebuilding in Afghanistan, such as a U.N. report of up to eight al-Qaida training camps there.

The Taliban overthrew an Afghan government and military that the U.S. had spent nearly 20 years and trillions of dollars building in hopes of keeping the country from again becoming a base for anti-Western extremists.

A 2023 report by the U.S. government watchdog for the U.S. in Afghanistan singles out Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban agreeing to withdraw all American forces and military contractors by the spring of the next year, and both Trump’s and Biden’s determination to keep pulling out U.S. forces despite the Taliban breaking key commitments in the withdrawal deal.

House Republicans' more than 350-page document is the product of hours of testimony — including with former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Central Command retired Gen. Frank McKenzie and others who were senior officials at the time — seven public hearings and round-tables as well as more than 20,000 pages of State Department documents reviewed by the committees.

With Biden no longer running for reelection, Trump and his GOP allies have tried to elevate the withdrawal as a campaign issue against Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential race.

The report by House Republican cites Harris' overall responsibility as an adviser to Biden, but doesn't point to specific counsel or action by Harris that contributed to the many failures.

Some highlights of the report:

Republicans point to testimony and records that claim the Biden administration's reliance on input from military and civilian leaders on the ground in Afghanistan in the months before the withdrawal was “severely limited,” with most of the decision-making taking place by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan without consultation with key stakeholders.

Yang, the White House spokesperson, denied that, saying the administration had sought input from officials in Kabul and others across the U.S. government.

The report says Biden proceeded with the withdrawal even though the Taliban was failing to keep some of its agreements under the deal, including breaking its promise to enter talks with the then-U.S.- backed Afghan government.

Former State Department spokesperson Ned Price testified to the committee that adherence to the Doha Agreement was “immaterial” to Biden's decision to withdraw, according to the report.

Earlier reviews have said Trump also carried out his early steps of the withdrawal deal, cutting the U.S. troop presence from about 13,000 to an eventual 2,500 despite early Taliban noncompliance with some parts of the deal, and despite the Taliban escalating attacks on Afghan forces.

The House report faults a longtime U.S. diplomat for Afghanistan, former Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, not Trump, for Trump administration actions in its negotiations with the Taliban. The new report says that Trump was following recommendations of American military leaders in making sharp cuts in U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan after the signing.

The report also goes into the vulnerability of U.S. embassy staff in Kabul as the Biden administration planned its exit. Republicans claim there was a “dogmatic insistence” by the Biden administration to maintain a large diplomatic footprint despite concerns about the lack of security afforded to personnel once U.S. forces left.

McKenzie, who was one of the two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation, told lawmakers that the administration’s insistence at keeping the embassy open and fully operational was the “fatal flaw that created what happened in August," according to the report.

The committee report claims that State Department officials went as far as watering down or “even completely rewriting reports” from heads of diplomatic security and the Department of Defense that had warned of the threats to U.S. personnel as the withdrawal date got closer.

“We were still in planning" when Kabul fell, Perez, the senior U.S. diplomat, testified to the committee.

Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.

FILE - Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at the perimeter of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani, File)

FILE - Taliban special force fighters arrive inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the U.S. military's withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi, File)

FILE - Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, center, top U.S. commander for the Middle East, makes an unannounced visit in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 31, 2020. (AP Photos/Lolita Baldor, File)