SARAJEVO: A child was arrested Wednesday after allegedly shooting a teacher at an elementary school in the northeastern Bosnian city of Lukavac, officials and the family of the victim said.
The incident comes a month after back-to-back shootings rocked neighboring Serbia, including a rampage at an elementary school in Belgrade where a 13-year-old gunned down 10 people — including nine fellow classmates.
“The child, who is not yet 14, is under police supervision in the premises of the Lukavac Police Department, while firearms and other discarded items are secured until the investigation begins,” the interior ministry of Tuzla canton said.
Officials described the suspect as a former student who had recently moved to another school.
“The child was transferred to another school from the start of the second semester as a result of a disciplinary measure,” Ahmed Omerovic, education minister for Tuzla, told reporters.
“Today was the end of classes in all schools in the territory of Tuzla canton,” he added.
The wounded victim is an English teacher and assistant principal at the school, said Ismet Osmanovic — who is the father of the victim — according to local broadcaster N1.
According to the hospital in the nearby city of Tuzla, the victim in the shooting had sustained “gunshot wounds to the neck.”
“The patient was intubated and he is being operated on,” the University Clinic Center of Tuzla said in a statement, according to local media.
“The operation is still ongoing. Doctors told me he was stable,” Osmanovic said.
The shootings in Serbia widely reverberated throughout the Balkans, with makeshift shrines and memorial services held in cities across the former Yugoslavia, including Bosnia.
During the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, an untold number of weapons were trafficked into the country due to an arms embargo.
Following the war’s end in 1995, officials repeatedly called for Bosnians to hand over their weapons during a years-long amnesty period, as security forces raided homes believed to harbor weapons.
Despite the efforts, a large number of guns are scattered throughout Bosnia.
According to the Small Arms Survey research group, approximately 31 out of every 100 citizens owns a gun in the Balkan nation.
Teacher wounded in Bosnia school shooting, child arrested
https://arab.news/6x6db
Teacher wounded in Bosnia school shooting, child arrested
- The incident comes a month after back-to-back shootings rocked neighbouring Serbia
- Officials described the suspect as a former student who had recently moved to another school
Bangladesh sets February date for first vote since 2024 mass uprising
- At least 1,400 protesters were killed in violent crackdown under ex-PM Hasina’s rule
- Interim government promises ‘all necessary support’ for upcoming elections
DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold national elections on Feb. 12, its chief election commissioner has announced, setting the timeline for the nation’s first vote since a student-led uprising that ousted long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, whose Awami League party-led government was marred by allegations of human rights violations, rigged elections and corruption, was removed from office in August last year after 15 uninterrupted years in power.
Bangladesh has since been led by interim leader Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, who took over governance after Hasina fled to India, where she is now in self-exile.
In a televised address on Thursday, chief election commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin confirmed the voting date to elect 300 lawmakers and said a national referendum on political reforms would also be held on the same day.
“It’s a relief for the voters; it’s a relief for the country. It’s a relief for the investors, it’s a relief for the development partners and for the political parties and the people who did a massive job in July 2024 by sacrificing their lives and limbs to oust a tyranny,” said Prof. A.S.M. Amanullah, political analyst and vice chancellor of the National University in Dhaka.
Mass protests that broke out in 2024 began in early July as peaceful demonstrations, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions.
Two weeks later, they were met with a communications blackout and a violent crackdown by security forces.
A special tribunal in Dhaka found Hasina guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against the protesters, at least 1,400 people of whom died, according to estimates from the UN’s human rights office.
After a months-long trial, she was sentenced to death in November for crimes against humanity.
The February elections will take place in the aftermath of Hasina’s reign, with the Yunus-led administration banning all activities of Awami League, meaning the former ruling party would not be able to join the race next year.
Minor political tensions now revolve around the more than 40 million voters of the Awami League, as the public speculate “how they would move, in which party they would support or whether they would remain silent,” Amanullah said.
“(But) if you consider other than Awami League, if we consider the other political parties, I think the other political parties are sufficient, you know, to make the next poll participatory, and free and fair.”
Bangladesh last held elections in January 2024, which saw Hasina return to office for a fourth consecutive term. That vote was boycotted by the country’s main opposition parties, which accused her administration of rigging the polls.
“There is a growing demand within the society and in the community that they would cast their first vote after almost 15, 16 years. And that would be an (occasion) of big national celebration,” Amanullah said.
In February, more than 127.6 million Bangladeshis will be eligible to cast their vote. It will be Bangladesh’s 13th election since the country gained independence in 1971.
The long-awaited election process now begins with the filing of nominations from Dec. 12 to 29, which will then be reviewed over the following six days. The last date for withdrawing nominations is Jan. 20.
After the voting date was announced, Yunus pledged to “provide all necessary support” to encourage festivity, participation and fairness in the upcoming polls.
“After the historic mass uprising (last year), the country is now moving toward a new path,” he said in a statement. “This election and referendum will consolidate that trajectory, prioritize the will of the people and further strengthen the foundation of a new Bangladesh.”
For Malaika Nur, a 24-year-old Dhaka University student who took part in the 2024 protests, the elections are an opportunity for young people to formally take part in politics.
“Young people have been showing much interest in politics since July 2024. They showed us how the youth can reshape a country’s political condition. If they have a few seats in the parliament, it can be a game-changer for the future of politics in Bangladesh,” she said.
“I hope this election will be different from the last three elections held in the previous regime. There will be a festive mood, people will cast their valuable votes and will get to choose their representative … I hope the elected government will ensure safety and basic rights of every citizen, and will hold fair elections in the future and will not become another fascist.”
