DHAKA: Bangladeshi students, who were at the forefront of last year`s protests that ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, are set to launch a political party this week, two sources with direct knowledge of the development said.

The Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group spearheadedtheproteststhatbeganasa student-led movement against public sector job quotas but quickly morphed into a broader, nationwide uprising that forced Hasina to flee to India as the unrest peaked in early August.

The student group is finalising plans to launch the new party during an event likely on Wednesday, said the sources who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Nahid Islam, a student leader and adviser to the interim government that took charge of Bangladesh after Hasina`s exit, is expected to lead the party as convener, the sources said.Islam has been a key figure in advocating for student interests within the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has been at the helm of Bangladesh since August 2024.

He is expected to resign from his currentrole tofocus onleadingthe new political party.

Islam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yunus has said that elections could be held by the end of 2025, and many political analysts believe that a youth-led party could significantly reshape the country`s political landscape.

Yunus has said he was not interested in running.

Clash at air force base One person was killed and 10 others were injured outside an air force base in Bangladesh after a clash between troops and nearby residents facing eviction from their homes.

Tensions had been brewing for several weeks over military plansto take possession of a governmentowned parcel of land home to thousands of people in the coastal city of Cox`s Bazar.

Local resident Mohammad Belaluddin said the matter came to a head when troops at the base detained a lawyer advocating for residents facing eviction.

`People learned that the lawyer had been picked up,` he said. `The news spread like wildfire, and people rushed to the base to rescue him.

Belal said security forces opened fire to disperse the crowd.

Officials at the Cox`s Bazar district hospital confirmed the death of one man from a head injury.

Another six people were treated for injuries there, police officer Saiful Islam said.

Around 2,000 people had gathered near the base in the lead-up to the incident, police said.

A statement from the military`s public relations office said four base personnel were also injured in the clash.-Agencies