Bangladesh protestors ransack PM palace after Sheikh Hasina flees country, military takes over

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule ended on Monday as she fled weeks of deadly protests and the military announced it would form an interim government.

Hasina had sought since early July to quell nationwide protests against her government but she fled after a brutal day of unrest on Sunday in which nearly 100 people were killed.

Hasina, 76, fled the country by helicopter, a source close to the leader told AFP shortly after protesters had stormed her palace in Dhaka. The source said she left first by motorcade but was then flown out, without giving her destination.

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Jubilant crowds had waved flags, some dancing on top of a tank in the streets on Monday morning before hundreds broke through the gates of Hasina's official residence.

Bangladesh's Channel 24 broadcast images of crowds running into the compound, waving to the camera as they celebrated, looting furniture and books, with others relaxing on beds.

Others smashed a statue of Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's independence hero.

Bangladesh's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a broadcast to the nation on state television on Monday Hasina had resigned and the military would form an interim government.

"The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed -- it is time to stop the violence," Waker said, dressed in military fatigues.

"I hope after my speech, the situation will improve," he said.

The career infantryman said he would talk to the president to form a caretaker government in the South Asian nation of some 170 million people. It was not immediately clear if he would lead it.

Waker said he had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members but not Hasina's Awami League.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, warned that Hasina's departure "would leave a major vacuum".

"If it's a peaceful transition, with an interim set-up taking over until elections are held, then stability risks would be modest and the consequences would be limited," he said.

"But if there is a violent transition or a period of uncertainty, that could risk more destabilisation and problems inside and outside."

Hasina's son had urged security forces to block any takeover before the protesters stormed the palace compound.

"It means don't allow any unelected government to come in power for one minute, it is your duty," her son, US-based Sajeeb Wazed Joy, said in a post on Facebook.

Security forces had supported Hasina's government throughout the unrest, which began last month against civil service job quotas then escalated into wider calls for her to stand down.

At least 94 people were killed on Sunday, including 14 police officers, the deadliest day of the unrest.

Protesters and government supporters countrywide battled each other with sticks and knives, and security forces opened fire.

The day's violence took the total number of people killed since protests began in early July to at least 300, according to an AFP tally based on police, government officials and doctors at hospitals.

The military declared an emergency in January 2007 after widespread political unrest and installed a military-backed caretaker government for two years.