AT LEAST seven people were killed yesterday when attackers threw crude fire bombs at a packed bus, setting it alight as it moved along the road in the Comilla district of Bangladesh yesterday.

The pre-dawn attack, the latest during a surge in political violence, also left 16 people injured during a nationwide strike called by the right-wing opposition.

The bus was travelling from the coastal city of Cox’s Bazar to the capital, Dhaka, said Comilla district police chief Uttam Chakrabarty, who blamed opposition activists for the attack.

Political violence — mostly fire bombings of vehicles — has killed at least 53 people since early January, when an opposition alliance led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia ordered a nationwide transport blockade to try to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down.

The bus attacked yesterday, unlike many vehicles travelling on major roads since the blockade was ordered, had no security escort from the police or paramilitary border guards.