UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on all parties in Bangladesh to put an end to the current violence, following clashes in the capital of the country over the past two days.

"The secretary-general has been following the recent wave of violence in Bangladesh with increasing concern and is saddened by the loss of life, including during the events that unfolded in Dhaka throughout Sunday and into Monday," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesperson.

"The secretary-general calls on all concerned to stop the violence, to respect the law and to express their views peacefully, " said the statement.

In the statement, Ban also urged political and religious leaders to "engage in constructive dialogue and help defuse the tensions."

Anxieties grow across Bangladesh over deadly violence that erupted Sunday afternoon and continued until the evening hours of Monday, leaving at least 41 people dead and hundreds injured.

The fresh wave of violence broke out Sunday outside the Baitul Mukarram national mosque in Dhaka after a homemade bomb exploded when many Islamists, who were heading for a rally in Motijheel, engaged in scuffle with law enforcers after they were intercepted.

At least 14 people including one police man and two troops of paramilitary Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) were killed and scores injured Monday morning in deadly clashes between the law enforcers and the Islamists in Narayanganj on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, local Somoy tv reported.

The clashes came just over a week after a garment factory building collapsed in the outskirts of Dhaka, killing nearly 600 people. Enditem

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