Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule ended on 5 August. She fled more than a month of deadly protests, and the military announced it would form a transitional government. Hasina is said to have headed to India, AFP reported.
Hasina had been trying to quell nationwide protests against her government since early July, but fled after a brutal day of unrest on August 4, in which nearly 100 people were killed.
Bangladesh army chief General Waqer-Uz-Zaman said in an address to the nation on state television that Hasina had resigned and the military would form a transitional government.
"The country suffered a lot, the economy was affected, many people were killed - it's time to stop the violence," Wacker said.
The general's statement came shortly after jubilant mobs stormed and ransacked Hasina's residence.
At least 20 people were killed during protests in the Bangladeshi capital on August 5, Bachu Mia, a police inspector at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said.
Millions of Bangladeshis took to the streets of the South Asian country, many of them celebrating peacefully.
Bangladesh's Channel 24 broadcast footage of crowds storming the prime minister's residence, waving at the camera as they celebrated, grabbing furniture and books as others relaxed on beds.
However, the mob also attacked the homes of Hasina's close allies, witnesses said
Others set fire to television stations that have supported her rule, as well as offices of her Awami League and smashed statues of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's independence fighter.
Wacker said the protests must end and promised that "all injustices will be addressed."
The infantry officer said he would talk to the president about forming a caretaker government. It was not clear whether he would lead it.
Security forces supported Hasina's government during the unrest. The riots began last month against job quotas in the civil service and have since grown into wider calls for its withdrawal.
Gen. Waqer said he had held talks with the main opposition parties and members of civil society, but not with Hasina's Awami League.
Hasina, 76, fled the country by helicopter, a source close to the ousted leader said.
A senior source in neighboring India, where Hasina's sister (she has Indian-British citizenship) lives, said she was "passing through the country but headed for London".
Bangladesh's military said it had closed Dhaka's international airport without giving a reason.
However, protesters widely called on Hasina's close allies to stay in the country.
The demonstrations began over the re-introduction of a quota scheme that reserves more than half of all civil service jobs for certain groups.
Protests escalated even though the scheme was scaled back by Bangladesh's high court.
At least 94 people were killed on August 4, the deadliest day of the unrest, when protesters and government supporters fought with clubs and knives and security forces opened fire.
The latest violence brings the total number of people killed since the protests began to at least 320, according to police, government officials and hospital doctors.
On August 5, soldiers and police in armored vehicles in Dhaka cordoned off the roads to Hasina's office with barbed wire, but huge crowds flooded the streets, tearing down the barricades. | BGNES
