DHAKA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Nearly two dozen alleged drug peddlers have been killed in Bangladesh in a series of incidents law enforcers described as "shootouts" amid a countrywide anti-drug crackdown.
At least seven were killed overnight in separate raids in parts of Bangladesh as the country's fierce war on drugs apparently intensified.
Sunday's killings followed 16 deaths in operations in a similar fashion in the past two weeks since May 4, marking the deadliest period of a crackdown that has detained nearly 3,000 persons.
Bangladesh's anti-crime elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that reportedly started the country-wide anti-narcotics drive since May 4, Sunday distributed anti-drug posters and leaflets in capital Dhaka as part of its efforts to better combat the on-going illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
Law enforcers claimed that most of the drug peddlers were shot and killed in crossfire in self-defense or after they or their accomplices opened fire on the force.
RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan told journalists Monday that "zero tolerance" will be shown against drug dealers and peddlers.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Sunday that raids to eliminate drug trafficking in Bangladesh supervised by RAB were similar to the ones conducted against militants.
RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed at a press conference last week announced that they had started the operations under the instructions of the prime minister.
Bangladesh has now reportedly at least 7 million drug addicts and 5 million of them are hooked on Yaba, a drug often used for sexual stimulation and addiction.
A Bangladesh Home Ministry official had earlier said annually about 200 billion taka (about 2.86 billion U. S. dollars) worth of Yaba tablets were being smuggled to Bangladesh from Myanmar.
Apart from Myanmar, an anonymous official from Home Ministry said the drug was also smuggled into Bangladesh by air and land routes from some other regional countries including Nepal and Thailand.