At least 100 people have been injured in political violence in Bangladesh as the country prepares for a tense election.
Opposition parties have warned the election could be rigged and say thousands of leaders and activists have been arrested, despite authorities pledging the vote will be free and fair.
The poll takes place on 30 December.
As leaders levelled accusations, supporters of the ruling Awami League and opposition parties clashed in Cox’s Bazar, Mymensingh, Chittagong and Sylhet districts.
The country’s main opposition alliance has accused the chief election commissioner of bias and demanded he resign, urging the president to elect a neutral replacement.
It said “authoritarian measures” included widespread surveillance, a crackdown on free speech and the detention of opposition members while ruling party supporters walked free.
“To ensure that the elections meet international standards, the police and election commission should not appear to be acting like extensions of the ruling party,” Brad Adams, the organisation’s Asia director, said.
“The violence during the campaign that has mainly targeted the opposition bears out their misgivings about unfair treatment.”
Each main party has blamed the other for the violence.
Among the six people killed were two members of the Awami League, and on 16 December a party office was vandalised.
However most media and observers have reported that the bulk of attacks have come from the ruling party, backed by security officials.
The Daily Star newspaper reported that 250 oppositions supporters have been arrested since Monday.
The opposition alliance, led by former foreign minister Kamal Hossain, includes former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Nationalist Party and the newly formed anti-government alliance Oikyafront.
Opposition spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Tuesday that a meeting between opposition leaders and election officials had failed over opposition accusations of attacks.
